


What's Not To Love?

by DizzyRedhead



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spoilers, F/M, First Meetings, Gets darker, Implied/Referenced Torture, Librarian!Darcy, Not of/by a main character, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Post Thor: The Dark World, Probably Not Anything Compliant, Suicide Attack, starts fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-04-24 07:53:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4911412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyRedhead/pseuds/DizzyRedhead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Darcy is working as a librarian and meets a certain World War II superhero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One-Dimensional

**Author's Note:**

  * For [McGregorsWench](https://archiveofourown.org/users/McGregorsWench/gifts).



> The lovely and talented [mcgregorswench](mcgregorswench.tumblr.com) requested a ShieldShock birthday ficlet so I wrote the first scene of this and thought no more of it...until the rabid plotbunnies started poking at my brain. We must feed the bunnies, though, so we'll see where this goes.

“Excuse me.”

Darcy looked up gratefully from her computer screen-- _if I have to look at one more book review, my eyes are going to be permanently crossed_ \--and just barely managed to swallow her drink of water instead of spraying it across the keyboard.

“Can I help you?” she asked, grateful that her voice came out somewhat normal and not at all like she’d almost swallowed her tongue.

The blond Adonis in front of her smiled. “I like your buttons.”

“Oh,” Darcy said, looking down at the lanyard holding her nametag and the various buttons adorning it, including symbols for several of the Avengers. “Thanks.”

“No Captain America?” he asked, his head cocked to the side.

Darcy shrugged. “Nah, Cap gets enough love. Not that he’s not great, I mean, what’s not to love? Strong, brave, and he looks good in the suit. He’s just a little...one-dimensional. I’m more of a Hawkeye girl.”

“Well, Hawkeye is pretty cool,” the man agreed, looking like he was trying not to laugh.

Darcy sighed internally. Sadly, the guys who thought she had a “great sense of humor” were never the ones that were interested in asking her out. Oh, well. Getting asked out at the desk was usually a little creepy anyway, although she wouldn’t mind seeing if tall, blond, and built was the exception to the rule.

“Anyway, sorry for that somewhat unprofessional tangent. How can I help you, sir?” she asked.

“I need some help with history research,” he said, sitting down on the bench next to her desk, “and I heard you were the woman to see.”

“Absolutely!” Darcy said. “We have a lot of really great historical resources here, books and databases. What specifically are you researching?”

“Mostly American history, post World War II to the present,” he said. “Just a broad overview at first. This is more of a self-education project than anything else, but I’m not sure how to get started finding the information, and a lot of what I find on the Internet is…”

“Biased? Wrongheaded? Flat out lies?” Darcy finished for him.

He nodded, his mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Pretty much all of that.”

“Well, I can definitely show you how to get started,” Darcy said, turning her screen toward him and trying not to bounce in her chair. “Just bear with me if I get too excited, because I am an incredible research nerd.”

“Sure thing,” he said, grinning over the desk at her.

“Okay, so first you go to our website…”

Thirty minutes later, the patron had a working knowledge of how to access the library’s research databases, ebooks, and public access catalog, as well as how to submit interlibrary loan requests for books that weren’t available electronically. “And if you have any questions, you can always call or email,” Darcy finished, handing over a business card. “But I think you’ll be okay. You picked that up really fast.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. “I like computers. They do what you tell ‘em to; just gotta be sure you’re not telling them to do something stupid.”

“Truth,” Darcy agreed.

He stood up from the bench, rolling his shoulders, and Darcy did her best to pretend she wasn’t watching the play of muscles under that too-tight shirt. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Darcy,” he said, tucking her card carefully away in his wallet (and she absolutely did not stare at his back pocket when he put the wallet away. Not at all). “Thanks for your help.”

“No problem,” she said. “It was nice to meet you, too…”

“Steve,” he said, turning toward the door and tugging his baseball cap further down. “Steve Rogers.”

“Oh, shit,” Darcy said softly.

He winked at her and walked away.

Darcy was forced to revise her earlier opinion. No one with an ass like that could ever be considered one-dimensional.

* * *

Darcy was making her rounds, picking up stray pieces of paper and pencils, pushing in chairs, pondering the eternal questions (“There’s a trash can literally two feet away; are they too lazy to even  _throw_ their trash in?” or “Did they get this chair and carry it all the way over to the far side of the building? Or did the chairs slowly shift throughout the day like a slider puzzle?”) when she noticed a certain World War II-era superhero at one of the public access computers. He was apparently trying to be incognito in his pleasantly tight shirt and BROOKLYN ball cap, considering the way he jumped when Darcy tapped him on the shoulder.

“Finding everything okay?” she asked, her just-doing-my-job-sir smile firmly in place.

“Darcy! Uh, yeah, thanks,” he said. “Thanks again for showing me those ebooks; there’s a lotta good stuff in there.”

The man at the computer next to Steve’s was giving them a death glare and glancing pointedly from them to the "Please take conversations outside" sign and back again. Darcy managed to stop the eyeroll before it got too far along, cranking up the wattage on the smile instead. “Well, I have to get back to the desk, but let me know if you need any help.”

“Will do,” he agreed.

Darcy turned, wishing that sexy stilettos were at all practical for library work, and let her ballet flats carry her back to the desk, resolutely not looking behind her.

The better part of an hour of totally doing real work later, (updating social media was her job, thank you very much)  a polite throat-clearing had her looking up, her smile widening into something more real when she saw Steve standing in front of the desk.

“Did you need some help?” she asked.

“Yeah, uh, could you help me find these books?” He held out a slip of paper with several call numbers printed neatly on it.

“Sure thing!” Darcy chirped, wincing internally when she heard how perky the words came out. “This way.”

Steve followed patiently behind her as they wound their way through the stacks, Darcy pausing occasionally to pull a book off the shelf and hand it to him. Unlike most people, whose selections could be found in a fairly small area, Steve’s interests were fairly broad. They pulled books on clean energy from the 300s, PTSD and grieving from the 100s, art history from the 700s, cookbooks from the 600s, and, of course, history from the 900s.

They were almost at the end of the list when Darcy once again encountered her nemesis; the top shelf. The book Steve wanted was shoved all the way back (curse every person who ever pushed books to the back of the shelf with the death of a thousand paper cuts), with just enough of the title visible to be sure it was the right one. Even standing on tiptoe, her fingertips could barely brush the binding.

“Here, let me,” Steve offered, shifting the stack of books to one arm, his muscles moving  mesmerizingly under that snug t-shirt, so much so that Darcy didn’t quite manage to move out of the way as he stepped up to the shelf. She might have panicked just slightly at her close physical proximity to Captain Freaking America and stepped back from the shelf abruptly. She certainly hadn’t planned on invading his personal space even more, her back plastered to his (warm, solid, muscled, mmmmmm) front. And she definitely didn’t anticipate the way that both of them would flinch away from the physical contact, tangling their legs together and sending them both crashing to the floor (along with a very healthy stack of books, including the one that started the whole mess).

Of course Steve, being both a) a gentleman and b) possessed of supersoldier reflexes, managed to twist them in midair somehow so that he landed first. Which meant that she got about two seconds of appreciating the way his muscles flexed under her hands before she was scrambling off of him and scooping up the books, babbling apologies for her clumsiness and praying a sexual harassment lawsuit wasn’t in her future.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, helping her pick up the books. His voice was calm and mellow, but when she glanced sideways at him there was a lovely flush across the top of his cheekbones (completely unfair; he looked even more gorgeous than usual, unlike the splotchy red that was almost certainly covering her face). “No harm done.”

Darcy let him take the books she’d collected and busied herself consulting the list. “The last one is going to be this way,” she said, heading off in the correct direction and hoping against hope that her face would cool before she had to face him again. She was a little calmer, but still flustered, when she found the final book for him (this time thankfully on a shelf that normal mortals could reach).

“Thanks,” Steve said, accepting the book and adding it to his stack.

“Not a problem,” Darcy said breezily. “Anything else I can help you with?”

He hesitated for a moment, but finally said, “This’ll probably do me. Thanks again.”

“Anytime,” she said, sketching a salute in his direction before turning to go.

She was almost to the end of the shelf when he said, “Darcy?”

She turned back toward him, quirking a questioning eyebrow.

“Would you maybe wanna get coffee sometime?” Steve asked, his words almost tripping over each other.

Darcy smiled slowly. “I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deliberately left the library vague, because the only library in NYC that I've ever been to is the one on Fifth and 42nd where they filmed Ghostbusters (librarian tourist destination!). If anyone from NYC has suggestions for a library that Darcy could work at (obviously it would need to be one with open stacks) I'm more than happy to take any ideas into consideration!


	2. Famous Last Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve takes Darcy out to lunch 
> 
> (I suck at summaries, okay?)

Darcy was neck-deep in wrangling with her graphic design program-- _If they'd just shell out for actual stock photos, this would be a hell of a lot easier_ \--when her music was cut off briefly by a polite chime and an IM window popped open.

**Reference Desk: Hey, Darcy, your boyfriend's here :)**

Darcy rolled her eyes, but before she could respond, her phone pinged with an incoming text.

**Steve: Hey, can I take you out to lunch?**

She caught herself smiling as she tapped out a reply and glanced furtively at the opening of her cubicle to make sure no one was about to pop in with teasing or more nosy questions about "who's got you smiling like that?"

**Darcy: That depends. Will there be dessert?**

**Steve: Absolutely**

**Darcy: Then I'm in. Be right out.**

**Darcy: If Shayla starts giving you a hard time, I can meet you outside**

**Steve: I'm Captain America. I think I can handle it.**

**Darcy: Famous last words...**

* * *

"So why the library?" Steve asked once they were settled into a diner booth, their orders placed. "Dr. Foster said you were studying political science before..." he made a vague gesture to indicate the general strangeness that was the world these days, what with genius billionaire playboy philanthropists in flying suits, alien demigods with daddy issues, improbable World-War-II era superheroes, giant green rage monsters, super-secret government agencies and so on.

Darcy smiled at him and he flushed a little. "What?"

"Do you know how nice it is to hear someone call Jane 'Dr. Foster' and not 'Miss Foster'?" she asked, somewhat rhetorically. "She's got three doctorates. Three! But it's 'Miss Foster' this and 'Are you the new intern?' that...honestly, that's a big part of the reason I'm not working with her anymore. Too much rage. It was bad for my blood pressure. Well, you know, that and the whole not getting paid thing. Student loans only stretch so far before they start asking for their money back."

"So you're a librarian because people don't call Dr. Foster by her title?" Steve asked, his mouth quirked in the way that she'd learned meant she was being expertly trolled (and who knew Captain America was such a sassy little shit? That sure wasn't anywhere in the comics).

"No, but once Tony Stark provided Jane with the lab of her dreams, including several people who can actually understand her Science! babble, I became redundant. And I like eating regularly and being able to pay my bills." Darcy paused to thank the waitress who set her burger, fries, and milkshake on the table in front of her before unloading Steve's two milkshakes, two double cheeseburgers, and double order of fries into whatever open space was left.

Steve flushed a little when he saw her eyeing his spread. "I, uh, eat a lot," he explained, a little unnecessarily. "Ever since the--" he glanced around a little before lowering his voice "--the serum. I guess my body just needs more fuel."

"Makes sense," Darcy said amiably. "Just don't try to steal mine and we'll be good. Anyway, you're right, I was studying political science. I thought it'd be cool to actually be a part of the political process, see history as it happens, y'know?"

"But?" he prompted, looking at her expectantly as he bit into his burger.

She sighed, taking a long drink of her shake before responding. "But politics is even more of a boys club than academia, and I didn't think that was possible. Mad props to the ladies who are changing it from within, but I don't have that kind of patience. Some senator would pinch my ass once too often and I'd end up charged with assault for tazing him, or worse."

Steve swallowed his bite of burger, "Okay, so now I know why not science or politics, but you still haven't said how you ended up at the library."

Darcy shrugged. "I wasn't lying about being a research nerd. I came to politics by way of history. I could've done a grad degree in history, but then you have that whole academia-is-a-giant-boys'-club problem again. The library happened to be hiring when I was needing a job, and my supervisor talked me into starting on my library science degree, and here I am. Student loans ahoy!"

"But you like it?" he asked.

"I really do," she assured him. "Some of the classes are kind of asinine, and very few of them will teach me anything that's actually practical for the day-to-day part of the job, but I like it. I get to help people with what they need, even if it's just printing off a resume. Plus, every so often a blond hottie will come in and need help with stuff, so that's a plus."

Steve flushed, but managed to say "I didn't know Thor even knew how to find the library."

Heads turned across the diner as Darcy's laughter filled the room, but she was having too much fun to care.

* * *

"Break time? No. Back to work," Darcy sighed as they neared the staff entrance to the library.

"Huh?" Steve asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just a line from a video game. Always seems especially appropriate when I'm coming back from lunch."

"I thought you liked this job," he teased.

Darcy smacked him in the arm. "I do, smartass. But I like spending time with you more."

Steve stopped walking, turning toward her, his eyes dark and intent. "I like spending time with you, too," he said softly.

They stood there for a frozen moment. Darcy was never quite sure who moved first; it was as though she blinked and then they were kissing, one of Steve's big, warm hands curled around the back of her neck and the other resting at her waist. She clutched at his shirt as his mouth pressed coaxingly against hers, soft, gentle kisses, until her lips parted under his and he licked into her mouth. She was vaguely aware that she was backed up against something solid, but the majority of her attention was reserved for Steve, still tasting her mouth with single-minded focus.

"Christ, Lewis, get a room," someone said very loudly, banging the door closed, and they both jumped, their mouths separating.

 _Jesus, did I really just start making out up against the wall next to the staff entrance?_ Darcy shook her head a little, trying to ignore how lonely her lips felt. At least Steve hadn't gone far, and now that they weren't kissing, she could better appreciate the sensation of being pinned between a wall and the hard, lean muscle that was Steve Rogers.

"Sorry," Steve said, ducking his head a little, that now-familiar flush painting his cheekbones. "I shouldn'ta done that."

Darcy couldn't resist lifting a hand to his cheek. "Hey, I was right there with you. Maybe not the best choice of location, but that was awesome."

He looked at her from under those ridiculous lashes and the heat in his eyes made it really hard for her to focus on the fact that they were right outside her workplace, by a door which any of her supervisors could be using at any moment.

"Not really the place," she repeated, more to him than to herself.

"No," he agreed. "Can I, uh, come walk you home after work?"

Darcy smiled up at him. "I get off at six."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering (or thought they recognized it), Darcy's quote is from Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. There's a very put-upon little kobold in there.
> 
> In other news, thank you to all of you who left likes and kudos and comments. They make my greedy, needy little heart very happy. I hope to continue updating this fic semi-regularly, plotbunnies willing, but I ran into some computer issues recently and I'm going to have to replace my cheapo motherboard, so things may be delayed for a bit. However, I get to post my Steve/Darcy fic from the Marvel Big Bang in all it's 19-chaptered-glory on October 19th, so, y'now, you can watch this space for that.
> 
> If you didn't already know, you can find me on [Tumblr](http://dizzy-redhead.tumblr.com/) where I post a wide variety of things, including a lot of pictures of Chris Evans (because why not make the world a more beautiful place?


	3. Need To Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is out of town, but Darcy and Jane's attempt at a girls' night is rudely interrupted.

Sadly, at about 5:15 that evening, Darcy's phone pinged. She knew even before she unlocked it what the text was going to say, but that didn't stop the pang of disappointment when she confirmed that yes, Steve had been called away for urgent Captain America-ing and would not, in fact, be able to walk her home after work and maybe kiss her again up against her apartment door, or the wall inside, or her couch, or...

_Suck it up, Lewis,_ she told herself sternly. _You knew he was a superhero and you decided to go and get attached anyway. Time to put on your big girl panties and deal._

She was debating the appropriately breezy phrasing for a reply text when her phone pinged again.

**Steve: I was really looking forward to walking you home. Rain check? For as soon as I get back?**

** Darcy: Absolutely. You can walk me home any day you want **

** Steve: You may regret telling me that **

**Darcy: Somehow, I don't think I will.  
Darcy: Hurry back, Cap!**

** Steve: Yes, ma'am! **

* * *

Forty-five interminable minutes later (never any patrons when you actually need them to keep you from being bored), she was making her way to the subway stop when her phone rang.

"Darcy!" Jane said. "Come to the Tower!"

Darcy frowned, shifting her phone from one ear to the other. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine, fine," Jane said. "Although the oscilloscope that we modified in New Mexico stopped working, but Tony thinks he can fix it once he gets back. But they're all gone and we haven't seen each other in weeks, so you should come. I promise to come out of the lab and do something fun."

"After you show me just one thing?" Darcy asked dryly, changing her path to board the train that would take her to midtown.

"Well..." It was astonishing how you could practically hear Jane's eyes shifting from side to side over the phone. "Thor brought me some books, well, sort of books, anyway, he brought them last time he went to Asgard. I think I've almost figured out how to set up our own version of the Bifrost!"

"You're not going to test this by yourself," Darcy said flatly, trying to keep the alarm out of her voice.

"No, no, of course not," Jane promised.

"Because if something went wrong and you, just as a hypothetical example, destroyed the Tower, I think Thor would be very upset if you were hurt," Darcy persisted, shoving her way on board the train.

Jane sighed. "I know. I'll be good, promise. But you should probably be here to distract me."

"I'm on the train now," Darcy promised. "Absolutely no dimensional bridges until I get there."

"Scout's honor."

"You were never a Scout! You punched that girl at your first meeting!"

"Well, she said that science was dumb! What was I supposed to do?"

"Well, no dimensional bridges or punching people until I get there," Darcy said.

"Okay."

* * *

"Jane?" Darcy called as the door to the lab slid open. No overly exuberant astrophysicist to be seen. "Jane, are you here? Please tell me you didn't teleport yourself to Asgard. Or someplace worse."

"If I may, Miss Lewis," a voice from the ceiling said, making her jump, "Dr. Foster went to the restroom a few moments ago. She should return shortly."

Darcy slumped against the nearest surface. "Oh, thank Thor," she muttered. "And thank you, too. You must be Jarvis."

"Indeed," the voice said. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," Darcy said. "I was afraid I hadn't gotten here in time to remind Jane about things like safety precautions."

"Dr. Foster can be...single-minded at times, but she is quite brilliant," the AI answered.

"Thanks, Jarvis," Jane said, breezing back into the room. "Darcy! You're here!"

"I'm here," Darcy agreed. "This is super fancy. Look at all this equipment you didn't have to make."

Jane looked around the lab as if seeing it for the first time. "Well, apparently being science buddies with Tony Stark has it's benefits."

"I guess so," Darcy said. "So, the boys are out of town, we should grab something to eat, maybe some drinks, watch some cheesy movies..."

"But I wanted to show you--" Jane cut off as the door opened and several people wearing matching uniforms and very serious expressions came in.

"Tower security, Dr. Foster," the man in the lead said, showing Jane a Stark Industries ID badge. "Mr. Stark just sent word that you may be in danger. I've been asked to take you and your associate to a secure location until we receive the all-clear."

"Oh, uh, okay," Jane said. "How long will we be gone? Do I need to pack a bag? I can just grab a few things--"

The man shook his head. "No time, I'm afraid. Mr. Stark will have your things sent, but right now we need to get you out of here before they come after you."

"Okay," Jane said, looking a little dazed as the man gestured her ahead of him toward the door. Darcy grabbed the flannel shirt that was draped over the back of a nearby chair before following; Jane's t-shirt and jeans were fine for the climate-controlled Tower, but it might be colder wherever they were going.

The security team surrounded Jane and Darcy and ushered them into the elevator. Once they arrived on the garage level they were quickly bundled into a black, nondescript SUV with tinted windows. About half of the security people remained behind, two climbing into the front of the vehicle and two in the third-row seat behind the women. The driver backed out of the parking space as soon as Jane and Darcy had buckled their seatbelts, pulling out onto the street and weaving through the Manhattan traffic with an aggressiveness that was just short of suicidal.

The team leader, now sitting in the driver's seat, turned around to look at them. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for your phones, ladies," he said apologetically. "The people who are after you may be using them to locate you; there's no point in moving you to a secure location if they can follow right behind us."

Jane had to check all of her pockets before they finally found the phone in the pocket of the shirt Darcy had taken from the lab, but the little flash of satisfaction when the man had it in his hand had Darcy's instincts clamoring for attention.

She made a show of digging around in her bag for her phone, using the motion to slide it into the hidden pocket she'd sewn into the lining after Puente Antiguo (okay, so SHIELD had turned out to be the good guys--sort of--but iPods were expensive). She pulled out the crappy smartphone that she used for answering chat reference questions and handed it over. "There you go. Sorry about that; I really need to clean this purse out, but who's got the time? And every time I do, the very next day I need something that I took out of it and put away, you know?"

Any suspicion that might have been in the guy's eyes was replaced with the "these babbling females" brand of superiority, which rankled, but it had been what she was shooting for, after all, so Darcy endured it without snark. Their phones disappeared into the glove compartment and Darcy settled back to await further developments.

* * *

Three hours later they pulled into the garage of a nondescript suburban house in one of those Stepfordesque subdivisions where every house looked exactly the same. Darcy was pretty sure they were somewhere in Connecticut, but she couldn't be certain, between Suspicious Guy eyeballing her when she tried to read the signs and Jane begging for scraps of paper to jot down ideas or sketch equipment plans on. At least rummaging through her bag for paper had let her surreptitiously send Steve a text before turning her phone off to preserve the battery and keep it from letting out any sounds or vibrations that might let the goon squad know she still had it.

The "security" guys (and girls; apparently whoever was behind this was an equal opportunity employer) hustled them out of the SUV and through a door that, instead of leading into the house, opened onto a flight of stairs going down.

"Where are we?" Jane asked.

"Safe house," the leader said curtly. "Mr. Stark has a lot of them set up in case of situations like this. This was the closest. There's a lab down there where you can work. Weber and Meyers will stay here and bring you food and other supplies, but you'll need to stay out of sight so that the people who're after you can't find you."

"And who was that again?" Darcy asked.

"Sorry, miss," he said, not looking at all sorry. "Need to know. I wasn't told either. I have to get back to the city now."

Jane and Darcy exchanged looks before allowing themselves to be ushered downstairs into what was, to be fair, a pretty well-equipped lab. There was also a bedroom with two single beds and a pretty nice bathroom attached and a small kitchenette with, thank Thor, a coffee machine, so at least they wouldn't die of caffeine withdrawal.

Meyers (or maybe it was Weber) gave them a few minutes to look around before clearing her throat. "If you need anything, there's an intercom by the door. We'll be on watch up top."

Darcy waited until the two women disappeared out the door before trying it. It was firmly locked, the only visible mechanism for opening it a keypad to the right of the frame. "Hope we don't have a fire," she half-joked.

Jane was frowning around the lab. "Jarvis?" she said hesitantly. No reply came.

"It probably takes a lot of computing power to run Jarvis," Darcy offered. "Even Tony Stark can't afford to have him installed everywhere."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jane said slowly. "I just thought, with the cameras...they're the same ones Jarvis uses."

Darcy moved to the nearest computer, trying to stop Jane from speculating about the cameras, because if they were being watched, they were probably being listened to as well. "Hey, look," she said with forced cheerfulness. "Isn't this your Bifrost stuff?"

Jane joined her. "Looks like it. I didn't think I'd saved that change before you showed up, but I guess I did, if it's here."

"Like New Mexico all over again, huh?" Darcy said

Jane's mouth twisted up in something that was almost a smile. "At least this time there's no fire-breathing death robot."

They exchanged a long look, and Darcy could tell that they were both thinking, a _t least, not yet._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hark! A wild plot bunny appears! I hope you guys will stick with me; I promise more Steve/Darcy awesome is coming soon.


	4. The Shoe Drops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finds out that Darcy's gone missing; Darcy plots ways to escape

Steve was trying very hard not to get cocky, but everything was going smoothly. Granted, ostriches were pretty vicious at the best of times, and having been mutated (or was it genetically modified?) to be twenty feet tall had not improved their tempers, but Clint was cracking dinosaur jokes as he used explosive arrows to herd them toward the SHIELD containment unit, Thor was having a fine time trying to tame one to be a riding beast, and Natasha had actually smiled once or twice (although it wasn't clear which one of them had caused it). And it was nice to get out of the Tower every once in awhile, even if he had been looking forward to walking Darcy home, and possibly coming inside.

Still, there was a part of Steve that was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, so when Iron Man stopped in midair so quickly that the ostrich he'd been "herding" almost took an arm off, Steve was turning before his conscious mind had even noticed.

"Tony?" he asked, keeping his eyes moving, but the rest of the team had things under control.

"Something's wrong with Jarvis," Tony said shortly.

"Did you lose connection?" Bruce asked over the comms. "Some kind of interference?"

"Still connected to the Tower," Tony said. "The version in the suit is fine. Someone or something is blocking him out of the Tower's systems. He can't see or hear anything that's happening there."

Steve surveyed the field and made a quick decision. "The others have everything under control, so you and I should head back to the Tower, Tony. Natasha, you're in charge here."

Natasha saluted him by way of acknowledgement while flipping gracefully out of the way of a large, vicious claw.

"You don't--" Tony started to say.

"It could be a trap," Steve said, his brain racing through possibilities. "Whoever has caused it might have turned the ostriches loose, or they may just be taking advantage of it. Either way, you could use someone else there with you, and I'm not especially needed here. Let's go."

The Iron Man mask nodded once and held out an arm. Steve stepped onto the suit's feet and wrapped his arms around the neck, feeling just as foolish as the first time he'd done it. Metal arms closed implacably around him and then they were airborne.

* * *

By the time they landed, Steve was extremely grateful for the way the suit radiated heat to prevent icing over at higher elevations, because otherwise his entire body would have been achingly cold, instead of just the parts that hadn't been in close proximity to the suit. He shoved the unpleasant memory of cold and darkness down and followed Tony (still in the suit, but with the faceplate raised) into the Tower.

"Jarvis?" Tony said.

"I apologize, sir," said Jarvis' familiar voice. "I seem to have been hacked."

Tony made a complicated gesture and the suit opened up, allowing him to step out. He snapped his fingers and several holoscreens flashed into life. "Sure looks that way, buddy. What'd I tell you about using protection? Sure, all the best stuff is on the torrent sites, but at what cost?"

"The hack came from inside the building, sir," Jarvis said primly.

"I see that," Tony said absently, his fingers manipulating the projection faster than Steve could follow. "Lasted for what, six minutes? But you still couldn't contact me after. Why?"

"I suspect so that I couldn't tell you that Doctor Foster and Miss Lewis are gone."

Steve's head snapped up. "Lewis? Darcy Lewis?" he demanded.

"Yes, Captain," Jarvis confirmed. "Doctor Foster called Miss Lewis a short time after the team left. I spoke to Miss Lewis when she first entered Doctor Foster's lab, but there is a blank spot in my video storage as a result of the hack. When the video feeds came back up, there was no sign of either of them anywhere in the building."

"Track their phones?" Tony asked, hands flicking through data. Steve fumbled his phone out of its pocket, waiting frantically for it to turn on.

"Both of their phones were traveling north when last on, but they have both been switched off." Jarvis reported. "Doctor Foster's phone went off first; Miss Lewis's stayed on significantly longer."

Steve was about to shove his phone back into the pocket--what had he been thinking? Of course the kidnappers would've taken her phone--when he saw the notification. "Darcy texted me," he said, fingers suddenly gone clumsy as he tried to unlock the screen.

"Before or after kidnapping?" Tony demanded, his head snapping up. "And how do you know Foster's BFF? You've been holding out on me, Cap."

"Met her at the library," Steve said shortly, opening the text. "What time were they here, Jarvis?"

"Miss Lewis arrived at approximately 6:45 p.m.," Jarvis answered. "They left the tower before my cameras came back up at 7:02."

"Well?" Tony demanded.

Steve swallowed, passing the phone to Tony. "After."

**Darcy: Weird security guys took us out of the tower. Took our phones. Hid mine but turning off now to save battery. Going north, maybe Conn? Rescue appreciated**

"Shit," Tony said softly.

* * *

"Just for a minute?" Darcy wheedled. "I'm going a little nuts down here; I'm kind of claustrophobic. I won't even go out of the garage. I just need to not be underground."

"No," Weber said curtly. "Not safe."

Darcy threw up her hands. "Who's gonna see me in a garage, dude?"

"Orders," he said. "Now step back."

Reluctantly, she did, and he closed the ominously thick door behind him, the click of the lock engaging barely audible.

"Anything good?" Jane asked absently, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

Darcy rummaged through the bag of food. "Pick your poison. We've got three different kinds of coffee, Pop-Tarts, cereal, ramen, and seven different flavors of bland frozen dinners, which I should probably put in the freezer."

Jane didn't respond, so Darcy rolled her eyes and lugged the bag into the kitchenette to put things away. It was bad enough being stuck with Jane and Science! when you could get away from her for awhile; 24/7 was going to be a bit much. And the computers probably didn't have internet access, because what kidnappers worth their pay would give their captives a way to contact the outside world?

"Do we have the internet?" Darcy called, just on the off chance their captors were actually that stupid.

"Mmmm," Jane replied, already in full-on Science! mode. "What?"

"Internet," Darcy said patiently, moving to one of the other computers to check for herself. "You know, the thing that people use for porn and cat videos?"

"Cat porn videos? What?!?" Jane actually looked up from her screen when that sank in.

"No, not together," Darcy said, leaning back into the chair once she ascertained that any attempt to open a web browser led to a very apologetic "Connection unavailable" page. "Although, given the internet, probably somewhere. But we wouldn't know, because we don't have it. The internet."

"Oh, okay," Jane said, quickly becoming engrossed in her screen again. "Do we need it?"

"Well,  _you_ don't," Darcy groused under her breath, opening up what was sure to be the first in a long series of games of FreeCell. "Some of us can't science for more than 4 hours without having to call a doctor, though. I could've gotten some quality Tumblr time down here."

"Mmmm," Jane said.

Darcy sighed and went into the bedroom. There weren't any visible cameras, but after a couple of run-ins with SHIELD, she wasn't about to believe that that meant there weren't any there. She picked up her bag and made a show of searching through it while she opened the hidden pocket and pulled out her phone just enough to see, turning it back on. She waited impatiently through the start-up, letting herself fall back onto the bed when the words "No Signal" flashed onto the screen (after tucking it back into the hidden pocket, of course).

She allowed herself two minutes of wallowing, and a further five minutes of fantasizing about Steve bursting through the door in full Captain America uniform, sweeping her off her feet, and carrying her off to somewhere with a bed where she got to peel him slowly out of the uniform (okay, maybe ten minutes--fine, fifteen), before she squared her shoulders, got up off the bed, and started making a plan (and playing Minesweeper. Because multitasking is totally a thing).

She was trying to figure out the best way of communicating with Jane about ways to escape without alerting their captors when the door to the lab swung open and a tall, blond man in an immaculate suit stepped inside.

"Dr. Foster!" he said expansively. "Such a pleasure to meet you. Now our great work will surely reach fruition!"

Silence fell while he waited for a reaction from Jane. Completely oblivious to his speech, or even his existence, she continued to work away at whatever mystery of the universe she was solving. After a couple of minutes, he glared at Darcy, clearly expecting her to do something. She gave him her best _scientists, whatcha gonna do?_ face, but moved over to get Jane's attention, since it probably wasn't the best idea to piss off part of the group that brought them wherever the fuck they were. Also, maybe now they'd get some answers.

"Jane," she said, moving quickly enough to turn off the monitor before Jane could block her.

"Darcy!" Jane said. "I was about to--"

"Company," Darcy interrupted, jerking her head toward tall, blond, and pissed, still standing by the door and clearly Not Amused by the byplay.

"Sorry," Jane said, not as apologetically as she normally would. "I got a little caught up, Mr....?"

"Doctor," the man corrected frostily. "Doctor Leopold Miller. It is an honor to meet you, Dr. Foster. With your help, Hydra will finally achieve its destiny and take its place among the stars!"

 


	5. Great Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hydra can't resist talking about their evil plan. Also, thumbscrews are for amateurs.

Darcy shook her head, certain that she couldn't have heard correctly. "Hydra...wants to go to Asgard?"

Dr. Miller gave her the kind of smile you gave a particularly dim puppy who had managed to learn not to widdle on the carpet. "Indeed! Only then will our destiny be fulfilled!"

"I don't think you're gonna get the reception you expect," Darcy said, a little wary of the number of exclamation marks, "but I've never been to Asgard, so setting that aside for now, exactly what makes you think Thor is going to look kindly on someone who kidnapped his girlfriend?"

For a second it looked like that concept had actually gotten through the crazy, but then Dr. Miller visibly shrugged off the moment of worry. "Hydra are the true heirs of the gods! The Red Skull was deluded; he strayed from the true path! The Führer knew that we could not possibly succeed without the gods on our side. And now, they have returned to show us the way! To lead us to our true place as leaders of mankind! But they do not know that we, their loyal servants, are here, waiting for their command!"

"And you want me to build the Bifrost for you," Jane said flatly. "So you can go and tell them."

"Indeed!" Dr. Miller beamed at her.

Jane stared off into space for a few moments, then smiled back at him. Darcy was not reassured. She had seen this smile before, usually during budget meetings. This was Jane preparing for war.

"I'll need more equipment," Jane said sweetly. "And a bigger space. The Bifrost on Asgard is huge, bigger than this room. It would never fit."

"Of course, of course," Dr. Miller said expansively, clearly not even a little aware of the danger. "From what I saw of your work, the little I could understand, that is, you were nearly ready to create a prototype. We will move you to a bigger lab space tomorrow, so that you can begin work. Will you require any more assistants? I know your" he gave Darcy a comprehensively dismissive glance "associate is not trained in the hard sciences."

"Hmmm? Oh, no, thank you," Jane said, giving him another smile. "Darcy may not be scientifically trained, but she's trained in helping me. Assistants who don't understand my process would just get in the way. I did have an idea on how to improve the design while we were driving here, though. There will be a few more materials that I'll need."

"Just give Meyers or Weber a list and we'll have them waiting for you," Dr. Miller promised. "I look forward to seeing the results of your work, Dr. Foster! Together, we will achieve great things!"

"Oh, yes," Jane said, her smile positively shark-like. "Great things."

* * *

"Jane has been taken?!?!?" Thor roared. The room darkened improbably, making the tiny arcs of electricity dancing over his armor even more visible. "Who would dare? I will find them and tear them limb from limb! They will rue the day that they laid hands on my beloved!"

"We don't know who," Steve answered, since Tony was occupied with trying to trace the path that the kidnappers had taken. "Not yet. Darcy's text said that they were security, but all the Tower security people are accounted for. Tony and Jarvis are working on figuring out where they were taken."

"Darcy?" Natasha said, looking a little too interested for Steve's peace of mind.

"The Lady Darcy," Thor supplied, his (literally) thunderous expression lightening a little at the distraction. "She is one of Jane's good friends. When first we met, she felled me with her 'taser', but she has chosen to become a keeper of knowledge now that Jane has no need of her assistance."

"Oh, I know all that," Natasha said. "What I don't know is why she'd be texting Steve. Something you want to share with the class, Rogers?"

Despite his best efforts, Steve could feel his cheeks flushing. "I went to the library to do some research, and she helped me out a couple of times. We've talked some."

"I'm still a little upset about that," Tony interrupted. "Using a library, Rogers? What kind of caveman are you? Jarvis can show you anything you care to know."

Steve shrugged, trying to hide how much he appreciated the change in sobject. "I like books, Tony. But you'll be happy to know that I used the computers there, too."

"Don't worry, J, I still love you, even if Capsicle doesn't," Tony said.

"How reassuring, sir," Jarvis answered. "I have that map ready."

"Throw it up, then," Tony said. A few seconds later, a holoscreen flickered to life, showing a map with a route traced on it in blue. The blue line ended abruptly in the middle of Manhattan, but blue dots scattered further north and east into Connecticut, ending in Hartford.

"The blue line is the path that Dr. Foster and Miss Lewis's cell phones traveled before being turned off," Jarvis said. "I accessed traffic cameras along the route and correlated them with the time when the phones were at that location, and I am 98.67% certain that they were in this vehicle." A photo of a nondescript black SUV, windows tinted so that the inhabitants weren't visible, popped up. "I continued to search traffic camera and other footage in an increasing radius in order to find further sightings of the vehicle. The last sighting was on the southern side of Hartford; sadly, in less populous areas, security and traffic cameras are less common and easier to avoid. But we can be fairly certain that they haven't entered another urban area, or my search would have located them."

"So they're somewhere in suburban Connecticut," Tony said absently. "That's a pretty big haystack."

"Can't exactly start kicking down doors," Clint agreed. "How about Nat and I question the security people? If they're all accounted for, then somebody impersonated security, at least long enough to take Jane and Darcy away. Somebody probably saw something, even if they don't know it's important."

Tony flicked a dismissive hand toward the door. "Yeah, yeah, go do spy stuff. Just remember these are my people, okay. No thumbscrews."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Thumbscrews are for amateurs."

* * *

Darcy waited until the new vehicle had been moving for at least five minutes before she started pretending to search her bag. Hydra had shuffled them into the windowless back of a van this time, so no chance of scoping out the route, but at least the armed goons were being polite. It was a little depressing that "not bound and gagged by captors" was one of the high points of the day, but you had to look on the bright side. She turned the phone on and waited impatiently for it to start up, moving things around inside her bag the whole time.

One of the goons cleared his throat. "What're you looking for in there, sweetheart?"

Darcy bit back her instinctive response to the endearment and the fact that his eyes hadn't moved above her neck the whole time they were in the van, thanking whatever deities might be watching over them that all the goons seemed to be male this time. "I...um...I need..." she trailed off, dropping her eyes, and leaned over to murmur in Jane's ear, making sure to pitch her voice loud enough that the guards could hear. "Jane, do you have any tampons?"

All five thugs visibly flinched back and made certain to be looking anywhere but at Darcy. Jane looked down at Darcy's bag, her eyes widening slightly. "No, sorry," she said, flicking her gaze away. "But I'm sure someone can go get you some once we get to the new lab."

The goons made, if possible, even more of an effort to be clearly Not Paying Attention. Darcy sighed once, then again when her phone announced "No Signal". Looking at the angry red sliver of battery life she had left, she decided to leave it on, just in case. The new lab would almost certainly have no signal, but maybe, when they moved between them...

She completely missed the momentary flicker from "No Signal" to three bars, and then back.

* * *

 

"What...no!" Tony kicked an ottoman, sending it skidding across the floor. "Come back, come back...shit!"

Steve snapped out of the light doze he'd allowed himself to fall into. "What happened?"

"I got a ping off of Lewis's phone for like a millisecond, but it's gone again," Tony bit out, his fingers flickering through the holoscreen. "On the south side of Hartford, still, probably moving west, but impossible to say. J, any chance of vehicle identification?"

"Not without a bigger sample to draw from, I'm afraid, sir," Jarvis said.

"Those cocksucking donkey fuckers must be jamming cell signals," Tony muttered, kicking another ottoman across the floor to bounce off the first. They slid so smoothly that Steve began to suspect that was their entire purpose.

Steve shook his head to clear it. "But her phone was on, right? Wouldn't that mean that she has it with her?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, and she's got enough smarts to hide it from them, and enough freedom of movement to leave it on. It may be time to move this operation to Hartford. If we're close enough, the next time something like this happens, we may be able to intercept them."

Steve looked around at the holoscreens full of information. "Can we keep searching like this if we're there?"

"Wherever I am, there Jarvis is also," Tony misquoted breezily. "Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Sadly, yes," Jarvis sighed, but his voice was unmistakably calm.

Tony flicked three more glowing pieces of data around and then collapsed the display with a concise gesture. "All, right, Cap, I just bought a building in Connecticut. Time to escape the city."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for delays in posting; I had to research a couple of aspects of cell phone technology to make sure I wasn't writing something that was completely wrong...and also I had to post an 18 chapter Steve/Darcy story on Monday (with an epilogue hinting at future Steve/Darcy/Bucky, so read that at your own risk). 
> 
> Anyway, now that's done! I do know where this story's going; just not completely sure how long it'll take to get there. Hopefully you guys will continue coming along for the ride. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the comments and the kudos and the bookmarks and the subscriptions. They mean a lot when I'm feeling down.


	6. Self-Rescuing Princesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Darcy and Jane are self-rescuing princesses, the boys show up in time to help, and there is some kissing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience with me! I'm sorry about the lateness of this update; like the responsible person I am, I spaced on a deadline and had to scramble to get things done. I have finished and turned in my piece for [the Fandom 4 Rainne fundraiser](http://fandom4rainne.tumblr.com/); if any of you are interested in my first ever explicit slash piece (Pre-Serum Steve/Bucky AU) and want to see it before January, head over to [the Tumblr](http://fandom4rainne.tumblr.com/) or go directly to [the donation link.](http://fandom4rainne.tumblr.com/donate) It's for a great cause and you get stuff by some amazing writers and artists.

Jane adjusted one last cable until it was touching the wall of the new lab space and stood back, hands on her hips, surveying her work.

Dr. Miller did his best to look as though he understood exactly what was going on. "So this mechanism..."

Jane moved to the central control panel she'd set up, leaving him to trail along behind. "This is the first step in making a successful Bifrost connection. We need a precisely tuned electromagnetic field in order to anchor our end, and this machine will set up that field. We'll test it, and if it works properly, we can move on to building the actual Bifrost mechanism."

"Of course, of course," Dr. Miller agreed expansively.

Jane frowned at the armed guards stationed around the room. "Could your...people wait outside?" she asked testily. "People have electromagnetic fields, too. Additional bodies will make the calculations harder."

For a moment it looked like Dr. Miller was going to agree, but he shook his head. "I'm afraid not, my dear. Regulations. Besides, surely a brilliant mind such as your own will be able to work around such obstacles."

Jane sighed. "Fine. But they'll need to stay exactly where I've put them. Even a step away will disrupt the field, and the generator will have to reset."

"Naturally," Dr. Miller said, visibly restraining himself from asking why that was the case. "You men! Not a step away from your positions! Anyone who disrupts this process will be turned over to the research division."

All six guards stiffened to attention, and Darcy and Jane exchanged a glance.

Dr. Miller turned back to Jane. "We are ready to proceed, Dr. Foster."

Jane nodded. "If you would press this switch on my mark, Dr. Miller?"

"It would be my honor," he said, stationing himself next to the switch and resting one hand lightly on the control panel.

Jane gave one last glance around the room, nodded to herself, wrapped her hand around a lever, and began to count down. "Ten, nine, eight..."

* * *

"Sir, I believe I have a location," Jarvis said, his voice echoing strangely in the penthouse apartment that had not yet been converted to fully support him.

Tony and Steve both jerked around to face the map Jarvis was displaying on the wall-mounted screen, and Thor nearly bounded across the room to join them. "How?" Steve asked.

"Operating on the theory that Hydra was jamming Ms. Lewis' cell phone, I worked outward from where we got the brief signal, looking for complaints about loss of service from other cell phone users," Jarvis explained. "The dead spot was moving, and I have traced it to its final destination."

"Good work, J," Tony said, moving toward the bedroom where he'd stored the suits he had brought. "Suit up, boys. Lets go rescue the damsels."

* * *

"...three, two, one, mark!" Jane said. She pulled the lever down sharply and nodded to Dr. Miller, who pressed the switch.

Several things happened at once.

Dr. Miller convulsed as the circuit closed when he pressed the switch, sending an electrical current racing through his body. He went flying across the lab, narrowly missing one of the goons...

...who were also convulsing and dropping to the floor as a bolt of electricity arced out from the control panel to each gun...

...Jane and Darcy dropped to the floor, covering their ears...

...and the remarkably scientific-looking assemblage next to the door suddenly attached itself to the door with a magnetic clunk, paused for two seconds, and then exploded.

Darcy pulled Jane to her feet as soon while the explosion was still ringing in her ears. "Time to go," she yelled, trying not to freak out about the fact that she couldn't hear herself.

Jane nodded and they raced for the door, which had swung ever so slightly ajar. Darcy pulled it open and they dashed up the stairs to the suburban house which disguised the entrance to this particular secret lab (and seriously, was there a secret Hydra lab hidden under every fucking subdivision in Connecticut?).

They reached the top of the stairs without incident, opening the door leading into the house proper, and headed to the left, toward the front door. Darcy was just starting to think it was actually going to work when a goon stepped out of the powder room under the stairs, hitching up his pants.

He froze for a second when he saw them, clearly unprepared for them to be somewhere they weren't supposed to be. Darcy made a split-second decision and picked up speed, mentally crossing her fingers that she could shove him aside enough for Jane to make it out the door--

\--which exploded inward in a bolt of lightning. The concussion knocked all three of them off their feet, and by the time Darcy and Jane had untangled themselves enough to stand, it was all over. Iron Man had put some kind of magnetic cuffs on the Hydra goon, Thor had scooped Jane up for an overly-enthusiastic "I'm-so-glad-you're-not-dead" makeout session, and Steve, in full Captain America outfit, was lifting careful fingers to Darcy's cheek, which of course started hurting like hell the moment he touched it.

"There's more goons in the basement," she said, trying to lower her voice when he winced a little. "Sorry. Big explosion; can't hear myself right now."

He glanced toward the basement door. "Stay here?" he asked, exaggerating the movements of his mouth so she could tell what he was saying.

Darcy nodded, sagging back against the wall. Steve tossed a rueful glance over his shoulder at Iron Man, who was watching them with entirely too much interest, and pressed a firm, gentle kiss to her mouth before turning toward the basement door, still moving back and forth in the breeze from the shattered front door.

* * *

"Hydra," Steve said bitterly, his arm tightening reflexively around Darcy's shoulders where they sat on a couch in the Avenger's Tower penthouse. She cuddled closer against him, rubbing her thumb over the back of his left hand where she'd pulled it into her lap.

"I think it was a splinter group, though," Jane put in from where she sat in Thor's lap on the couch across from them; the two of them hadn't had more than about thirty seconds of not touching since the Avengers had literally busted down the door. "They had this crazy idea about how the Asgardian gods were going to lead them to victory. I guess because of that whole thing where Hitler was obsessed with the Germanic gods, who were based on the Norse ones?"

"Yeah, they were super excited about it," Darcy agreed. "If you hadn't figured out how to zap them all so we could get out of there, I almost wanted you to go ahead and send them to Asgard, just to see the look on Thor's dad's face when they showed up."

Thor grinned wolfishly. "My father has little patience for humans. I am striving to educate him, but I think any portion of Hydra would not like the reception it found on Asgard."

“Okay, ladies, gentlemen, and interplanetary deities,” Tony said as he breezed into the room. “What do we want first? The good news, the bad news, or the really bad news?”

“The good news,” Darcy and Thor said at the same time Jane said “The bad news” and Steve said “The really bad news.”

Tony stared blankly between them for a second, before shaking his head. “Okay, as tiebreaker, I vote we start with the good news, which is that Natasha and Clint have been interrogating the Hydra henchmen that Dr. Foster cleverly managed to knock out, and they’re singing like American Idol contestants.”

“And the bad news?” Darcy asked, rolling her eyes.

“The bad news is that this may be a Hydra splinter faction, but there are a hell of a lot of them. It looks like the organization split down the middle after Cap took out the Red Skull, and this faction just kept growing.”

Steve scowled. “So what’s the really bad news?”

Tony sighed, flopping down on a couch. “The really bad news is that they thoroughly infiltrated the Tower to pull off their little kidnapping stunt, and my security people still haven’t nailed down how the fuck they did it. Jarvis and I got some information off the computers at the lab, but Jane’s little Tesla coil experiment fried most of them--"

"Not a Tesla coil--" Jane started, but Tony kept talking

"--well, whatever, say what you will about these people, but they understand compartmentalization. We didn’t get them all. We didn’t even come close.”

“I’ve had a long week, Stark,” Darcy said, stomping on the part of her brain that reminded her she was sassing one of the richest men on Earth. “Use small, easy-to-understand words.”

“They’re going to try again,” Steve said grimly.

Tony nodded. “And I can’t guarantee your safety here, much less out in the city. Unless you want to be grabbed again and have Hydra try to peel what you know out of your skull, you’re going to have to go into hiding until we can make the Tower secure again.”

“I will take Jane to Asgard,” Thor proclaimed. “She will be safe from evildoers there. Would you accompany us, Darcy?”

Darcy pursed her lips and tried to prod her tired brain into action (her brain responded by throwing out adjectives like “warm” and “muscly” for how it felt to be cuddled up to Steve, which, however accurate, were not helpful). “You have no idea how many there are of these guys, other than ‘a lot,’ right?”

“I could go as high as ‘a shit-ton’,” Tony offered helpfully.

“So it could be years before they’re all taken out,” she said.

“Probably not…” he trailed off. “Yeah, okay. It’ll be safe to come back to the Tower before then, though. Two months, tops!”

“And then I can live my life under house arrest?” Darcy snorted. “Better idea. What if we use me as bait?”

“No,” Steve said flatly. “No way. It’s not safe.”

She smiled up at him. “It will be if you’re with me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's that you say? I wrote almost 10k words of plot for an excuse to write Steve/Darcy witness protection/fake relationship smut? Why yes, I believe I did. Fair warning, the next chapter or two may get a little explicit, and the rating for this fic will definitely change. You have been warned!
> 
> Big thanks to Liebekatze for the idea of how Jarvis could track them; I have the best readers! *huggles you all*


	7. Taking Direction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Darcy are stuck at a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. What to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't notice, the rating for this fic has changed. The second half or so of the chapter is very explicit and not at all safe for work. Read at your own risk, possibly with a cold beverage nearby.

The door of the little cabin closed behind them, and an awkward silence settled over the tiny living room/dining room/kitchen space.

"So--" Darcy said.

"So--" Steve began.

They stopped, looked at each other, and started laughing.

"Hungry?" Steve asked. "I think I saw a burger place in that little town we drove through on the way."

"Sure," Darcy said. "Let me use the bathroom real quick and I'll be ready to go."

She ducked through the door to the equally tiny bedroom, trying to ignore the implications of the one king-size bed that took up the majority of the available space, and into the bathroom, which was actually the nicest room in the cabin, with a double vanity and lots of counter space, plus a luxuriously huge glassed-in shower that looked out over the tree-lined hills. Just as Tony had promised, Steve’s shaving kit and  her toiletry bag were sitting on the counter, so Darcy took a minute to run a brush through her hair and reapply mascara before heading back out into the living room, checking the bedroom on the way to make sure their clothes bags were there, too.

Steve was investigating the contents of the fridge when she came out. "Looks like Tony had them buy groceries," he said, "but the perishables aren't going to last for more than a week."

"Well, hopefully we won't be here that long," Darcy said, not at all certain that she meant it even as the words came out of her mouth. Sure, being on Hydra's Most Wanted List really sucked, but getting some time with Steve, without being interrupted by Avengering or her job? That promised to be really awesome.

Steve shrugged. "No telling how long we'll be here, but we can always go buy more groceries if we need them. Ready to go?"

"First one to the bike gets to drive," Darcy said, darting out the door.

* * *

Steve beat her to the bike (she still said it was cheating; the fact that his legs were longer than hers  _and_ that he was literally super fast meant she didn't have a chance, even with a head start). But it was nice, wrapping herself around him as they leaned into the curves of the two-lane highway that wound its way between and up and down the hills, the muscles of Steve's stomach flexing under her hands. Tony had tried to get them to bring one of his seventy million cars, but Steve had argued that the bike would be a lot more versatile if they had to make an escape across country. Plus, it was just more fun, even if Darcy’s ass had gone a little numb after the third hour.

They rolled into the little town and pulled up at what a sign proudly proclaimed to be the All-American Diner, a small building with a window to order through for takeout and  a few booths and tables inside, plus a pool table that had somehow been shoehorned into the center of the dining area. The waitress didn't blink an eye at the amount of food that they ordered, just took their money without comment, passing back the change and the quarters Darcy had requested.

"I'm probably going to regret playing with you," Darcy said, racking the balls. "Are you a super pool player, too?"

Steve shook his head. "Took me awhile to figure out how to do it without breaking the cue. Bucky was always better at it, anyway. He used to hustle pool for money when we were a little short."

"Pool is one of the things I suck at, but like to do anyway," Darcy said, pretending she hadn't noticed the sadness in Steve's eyes when he talked about Bucky. "So you're almost certainly better than I am."

"I wouldn't take that bet," Steve said, but he was smiling again.

"Let's find out," Darcy said, dropping the cue ball onto the table. "Your break."

They played a game before their food got there, and another two after they were done eating, since it turned out that they were fairly evenly matched. Steve ordered a second caramel milkshake before the last game, but soon the sun was sinking lower and they made their way back to the bike, retracing their route back to the cabin.

"It's only eight," Darcy complained, yawning. "Why am I so tired?"

"Been a long day," Steve said, sitting down on the tiny loveseat that only just fit under the cabin’s window. "You going to head to bed?"

Darcy shrugged. "Don't think I'm quite ready to sleep yet, but I may lay down with a book. I want a shower first, though."

"Oh, okay," Steve said. "I'll be out here. Sleep well."

Darcy paused in the doorway. "Steve."

He looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"Please tell me you're not planning to sleep on that couch."

He flushed a little. "Wouldn't be the worst place I've slept."

"Steven Grant Rogers," Darcy said flatly. "That bed is big enough for both of us, plus a couple of friends. You are going to sleep in it tonight. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Steve snapped out reflexively, looking surprised.

"Good." She turned on her heel and stalked into the bedroom.

* * *

Darcy came out of the bathroom, damp hair curling wildly around her shoulders, already in a tank top and pajama shorts, to find Steve sitting bolt upright against the headboard on the far side of the bed, wearing a thin undershirt that strained over the muscles of his arms and shoulders (like all his other shirts, thank Thor for small favors) and soft sleep pants, plus an incredibly uncertain expression.

“Steve,” she sighed, crossing to the bed and setting her glasses on the bedside table before turning out the light and getting under the covers. “If you’re really uncomfortable, I can go sleep on the couch, but there’s no way you’re going to fit.”

“If anyone’s sleeping out there, it’ll be me,” Steve said stubbornly, but he slid down until his head was on the pillow, pulling his side of the covers over himself.

“That makes no sense,” Darcy said patiently. “That couch is literally half your size. And if you say ‘but I’m the guy’ or any variation thereof, I’ll have no choice but to smack you.”

In the moonlight streaming in through the windows, she could see Steve open his mouth, then close it again. “It’s….” he paused for a long moment, clearly choosing his words carefully “difficult. Part of me forgets that I won’t fit on the couch anymore. And I’m having a hard time being this close to you and not touching.”

Darcy rolled onto her side to face him, and he mirrored the move, leaving them only inches apart. “You can touch,” she said softly.

“I don’t wanna rush you…” he started.

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Steve, we’ve known each other for a while now. Technically, those burgers were our third date. If you were anybody else I’d already have jumped you.”

She could practically feel him shutting down, even though he didn't move a muscle ( _oh, shit, what did I say_ ), so she took drastic action, sliding closer and pressing a kiss to his mouth. He stayed tense for a long, long moment, but just when Darcy was about to admit defeat, his big, warm hand landed on the small of her back, pulling her closer until she was pressed firmly against him. He kissed her back, coaxing her lips open and tasting her with long, lush kisses, and she slid her hands into his hair and wriggled against him, trying to get closer, until he groaned into her mouth. His hand slid lower, curving possessively over her hip and easing her over onto her back, both of them moaning when he followed and the hard ridge of his erection pressed between her legs.

Steve broke the kiss but stayed where he was, braced above her on his elbows, the hard, muscled weight of him pressing her deliciously into the mattress. "We don't have to--" he started to say, until Darcy cut him off by tugging on his hair, hard.

"If you try to stop this out of some kind of misguided sense of honor or something, I swear I will get Thor to zap your ass," she threatened, rolling her hips up against him and watching his pupils dilate. "Unless you don't want to--"

"Oh, I want to," Steve said, his voice low and rough. urging her leg up to wrap around his waist and grinding down against her. "I really, really want to."

"Me, too," Darcy said, a bit breathless from the way the seam of her shorts was rubbing directly against her clit. "But we're both wearing too many clothes. Somebody should do something about that."

"Yes, ma'am," Steve said, smirking down at her as he started to slowly work the hem of her tank top up. He slid down on the bed until he could touch his lips to her stomach, kissing the skin he was baring. Darcy shivered under the touch of his mouth, tugging gently on his hair, and he looked up at her from under his lashes, his eyes hot and intent on hers.

"Sometime this century?" she asked, taking refuge in snark.

He pressed another kiss just below her ribcage. "Wanna take my time with you, Darcy," he murmured, his breath raising goosebumps as it ghosted across her skin. "Been thinking about this for a long time. Let me?”

“O-okay,” she stuttered out, her breath catching as he pushed her tank up further, his thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. “But you owe me hard and fast next time.”

“Deal,” he said, his eyes darkening, and turned his attention to kissing the heavy lower curve of first one breast, then the other, the slight scratch of stubble against the delicate skin making her shiver and arch up into him, especially when he followed it with his tongue.

Steve somehow managed to pull her tank top up and over her head without any significant break in his slow, incremental path toward her nipples, crinkled in the cool air and so hard they ached. Darcy curled her fingers in the hem of his undershirt and started tugging it up, feeling his muscles flexing as she slid her hands up and over the smooth skin of his back. He took the hint once she got it up to his armpits, lifting up to strip it off and tossing it to the floor beside the bed before leaning back down and dragging the flat of his tongue over her left nipple.

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Darcy chanted, her head moving from side to side on the pillow as he alternated licking and sucking each nipple while rolling the other between his fingertips. “Steve--I can't--I need--"

"It's okay," he murmured, shifting so he could slide a hand down her stomach and under the waistband of her shorts and underwear. “I’ve got you.” His touch on her clit had her shivering and moaning under his hands, and when he brought his mouth back to her breasts it didn't take long before she was coming, one hand clenched in his hair, the other wrapped around his wrist, her nails biting into his skin as she arched up into his hand.

She was still shaking through the aftershocks when he peeled her shorts and underwear down her legs, tossing them aside and sliding down until his face was between her legs. Darcy barely had time to take a breath as he hooked her legs up over his shoulders and nuzzled his face between her legs, his nose nudging her clit as he began to lick at her pussy, sliding his hands under her ass and lifting her up to give him better access.

Her hands clenched on Steve’s shoulders as her hips bucked up toward him. He alternated long, sweeping licks up the center of her and fucking her with his tongue, driving as deeply as he could, with his nose nudging at her clit the entire time. She could feel her entire body moving, waves of motion sweeping through her, and she couldn’t even care that she was grinding her pussy into his face because he’d fastened his mouth around her clit and sucked and she was coming again, her thighs clamped around his head to hold him in place as she rode out her orgasm.

When Darcy could open her eyes again, he was smirking down at her, his mouth still wet from her, and she dragged him down for a deep, filthy  kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“Tell me we’ve got condoms,” she gasped when she finally tore her mouth away.

“Well, if I know Tony…” Steve said, leaning to the side, and pulling open the bedside table drawer, emerging with a strip of foil packets.

Darcy sat up enough to scrape her teeth over the side of his neck, smiling against his skin as he shuddered. “Good. Now get your pants off and fuck me, Steve.”

He stripped his sleep pants off with ruthless efficiency and ripped open a condom, rolling it over his hard cock before settling back between her legs. “Now, where was I?” he murmured, stroking his fingers over her, pausing at her clit. “Here?”

Darcy shivered. “Almost…”

His fingers slid lower, and she arched up when he slid two of them into her pussy, fucking her with long, steady strokes. “Here?” he said, one corner of his mouth tipped up in a smirk.

“Rogers, If you’re not inside me in thirty seconds, I’m going to get my vibrator out of my bag and finish this on my own,” Darcy said, but the breathiness of her voice robbed the threat of much of its impact.

Nevertheless, Steve slipped his fingers out and lined himself up, pushing his cock inside her in a long, slow slide that had her writhing under him. “Maybe another time,” he said, licking her wetness off his fingers before sliding his hands under her ass and lifting her, holding her in place as he fucked her with slow, steady strokes.

“I really do want to watch you get yourself off sometime,” he confided, and Darcy shuddered at his low, intimate tone and the mental image of those intent blue eyes watching her fuck herself with a vibrator. “But not tonight. Tonight’s my turn.”

He kept fucking her with those long, steady strokes, and it felt so good, the hot, thick slide of him inside her, but at the same time, it was nowhere near enough for her to come. Darcy bit her lip, trying to decide if she should just fake it, but imagining Steve’s kicked-puppy face if he ever found out was enough to steer her away from that plan. “Steve--” she said, not quite sure how to broach the subject.

He leaned down to kiss her. “Need more?” he asked, and she nodded, dropping her eyes and feeling her cheeks heat.

“Hey, it’s okay” he said softly, stroking his fingers over her cheek until she got up the nerve to look at him again, and suddenly he grinned impishly. “I’ve always taken direction well.”

Darcy giggled, then gasped as Steve lifted her legs up to his shoulders and leaned down, folding her almost in half. The new angle let him fuck her deeper, every stroke of his cock skating over her g-spot. After the earlier buildup, all it took was a half-dozen thrusts before she was coming, shuddering and moaning, and he was losing his rhythm, thrusting erratically into her before pushing deeper and groaning out his own release, letting her legs fall to the bed before dropping to his elbows and burying his face in her neck.

She rubbed her hands soothingly up and down his back until he stopped shivering with the aftershocks. Finally he lifted his head and kissed her, long and lingering and sweet, before pulling out and heading to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.

He was back quickly, sliding between the covers and settling in on his side, facing Darcy, but not quite touching. She rolled her eyes and scooted closer, turning to face him and draping her arm over his waist. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned onto his back, pulling her with him until his arm was wrapped around her, her head pillowed on his shoulder.

“So that was awesome,” she said when she couldn’t handle being quiet any longer.

“Well, I thought so,” Steve said, his voice amused. “I’m glad you agree.”

Darcy smacked him on the arm. “Jesus Christ, you’re a smartass. How come that never made it into the history books or the comic books?”

Steve shrugged. “Most of the people who wrote those never actually met me, and all of them had their orders. Captain America is a symbol. He doesn’t get to have opinions or attitudes.”

“Bitter much?” Darcy said lightly.

He sighed. “Just...I didn’t realize until I woke up after the ice, how few people there were who knew Steve Rogers, not just Captain America.”

Darcy dropped a kiss on his shoulder. “Well, I kind of like Steve Rogers, smartass mouth and all--” she yawned “even though he wore me out.”

Steve kissed her forehead. “Get some sleep, sweetheart. I’ve got plans for you.”

“Oh, no,” Darcy mumbled, her eyes slipping closed. “Whatever will I do?”

The rumble of his laugh under her cheek followed her down into sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the length of time since my last update, but Steve and Darcy were being very uncooperative. Have an extra-long chapter with lots of smut by way of apology.


	8. Wakeup Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, so NSFW. About 90% smut 10% plot.

Darcy kept her eyes closed as she drifted toward wakefulness, not wanting to wake and find herself still in a Hydra basement lab. She’d had a fantastic (and very explicit) dream, and she wanted to hold onto that for just a little longer before she had to face reality--

\--but the warm, heavy arm wrapped around her, the legs tangled with hers, and the dick that was  _ very _ happy to see her pressed against her hip seemed to suggest…

Darcy opened her eyes, and for once reality did not disappoint. Steve was still asleep, his breathing slow and even, his face close enough that she could see him clearly even without her glasses or contacts. Like this, without him looking back, Darcy could indulge herself and look as much as she wanted. So she did, savoring the way his lashes rested on his cheekbones, the way his lips fell just slightly apart over his teeth, and the faint shadow of stubble on his jaw. 

They lay like that for some immeasurable amount of time before Steve started moving in his sleep, rocking his hips against her in tiny, unconscious thrusts. Darcy smiled to herself and slid down under the covers until she could wrap one hand around the base of his cock.

“D’rcy--” he mumbled, thrusting into her hand, only to cut off with a moan as she licked her way up from the top of her hand to the head of his cock. She closed her mouth over him and slid down, moving her hand and her mouth in unison, and Steve groaned again, louder, his fingers tangling in her hair.

“So good--Darcy--oh, fuck--I’m gonna--” he babbled, clearly trying not to fuck up into her mouth, but just as clearly unable to completely stop himself. Darcy redoubled her efforts and within a few short minutes he was coming, warm and salty in her mouth. She swallowed as fast as she could, sucking gently, and he shuddered under her. 

“Stop, please,” Steve begged, tugging her up until she was sprawled across his body. He kissed her deeply, his hands stroking up and down her back.

“Hell of a wakeup call,” he said when they finally broke apart. 

Darcy shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Steve grinned, his hands sliding down to curve over her ass. “I’m sure not complainin’. Now, I think I promised you hard and fast?”

“But you--” Her eyebrows shot up as she felt his cock, still hard, bump against her leg.

“Funny thing about the serum,” he said, kissing her one last time before sliding out from under her so he could reach the bedside table. “Last night I was tired, so it only took one, but in the mornings, it’s two, sometimes three times before it loses interest.”

Darcy started to roll over, but Steve’s hand in the small of her back stopped her. “Will you stay like that for me?” he asked his voice just a little uncertain.

She shrugged, pillowing her head on her folded arms. “Knock yourself out.”

The next thing she knew, his fingers were brushing across the entrance to her pussy, sliding  one easily inside. “Already so wet for me,” he marveled, his other hand petting absently up and down her thigh as he added another finger and fucked her faster.

She stifled a moan, her hips arching involuntarily as his fingers brushed over her g-spot. “W-what can I say? I woke up in bed with Captain America.”

His hand left her leg and she heard the crinkle and rip of a condom packet behind her. “Say my name, Darcy,” he ordered, his voice rough, as he pulled his fingers slowly out of her and lined himself up.

“Steve,” she said, her voice breaking as he pushed inside in one long, insistent thrust, his hands closing on her hips.

“Again,” he demanded, setting a pace just the right side of brutal. “Who’s fucking you?”

“Steve,” she moaned again, burying her face in the pillow. “Steve, please--”

His fingers relaxed their grip and he stilled instantly. “Am I hurting you?”

“No!” Darcy lifted her head and managed to look back over her shoulder to meet his eyes. “No, it’s perfect, Steve. Don’t stop. Please.”

His fingers tightened but he still didn’t move. “You promise you’ll tell me if I do?”

“I promise,” she said. “And  _ you _ promised me hard and fast.”

He grinned, but his eyes were still shadowed. “Well, I can’t break a promise to a lady.”

Darcy opened her mouth to respond but was cut off when he thrust back in, not quite as hard as before, but still hitting all the right spots. She dropped her forehead to the pillow and braced herself, letting each thrust drive her higher. His hands slid up to her waist, so big they nearly spanned the entire thing. She felt impossibly delicate and tiny, completely at his mercy and yet so, so safe. All it would take would be a word, a sound, and he would stop. 

But he didn’t stop, he started talking. “That what you want, sweetheart? You want me to fuck you hard and fast?”

Darcy moaned an affirmative, and he tugged her up until she was leaning back against his chest and he could slide one hand down her stomach to find her clit, the other up to close over her breast. “That’s it,” he breathed into her ear as she shivered under his hands. “That’s it, Darcy. Wanna watch you come; you’re so fuckin’ gorgeous when you come, did you know that? Come for me, sweetheart--”

And she did, shuddering around him, coming like his voice was wired directly into her nervous system, until the touch of his fingers on her clit and her nipple were too much to take, too much like pain, and she had to grab his wrists and pull his hands away and give herself time to breathe. When the din of her heartbeat in her ears receded she heard that he was still talking, like maybe he’d never stopped.

“--that’s it, just fuckin’ perfect, just like that--” 

His words kept  time with the slow, soothing rub of his hands over her thighs, the slower, almost languid movements of his cock inside her pussy.  

“There we go,” he said, when he noticed her eyes flutter open again. “You back with me, Darcy?”

“Mmmmhmmm,” she said.

His lips curved against her neck. “Think you can open your eyes for me?”

Darcy sighed, but complied, opening her eyes. Steve had turned them slightly so the sight that greeted her was their reflection in the mirror on top of the dresser. She flushed and tried to close her eyes again, but Steve nipped at her earlobe in retaliation.

“None of that, sweetheart,” he chided, and she reluctantly opened her eyes again. It was a little less overwhelming if she pretended that it was two other people, maybe something on the Internet. Steve was on his knees in the middle of the mattress, his thighs flexing as he thrust up inside her. Her legs were spread so widely that she could watch in fascination as his cock moved in and out of her pussy, as his fingers stroked delicately over her clit. He wrapped his other arm around her stomach to hold her steady and picked up the pace, fucking her faster, and Darcy’s eyes flew up to meet his in the mirror.

“Look at you, Darcy,” he murmured, his voice like rough velvet in her ear. “So goddamn beautiful.”

She opened her mouth to protest automatically, but he lifted his eyebrows in warning and she closed it again. He rewarded her with a hot, wet kiss on her neck and a firmer touch on her clit. Darcy let her head fall back against his shoulder and let her orgasm roll through her as Steve fucked her relentlessly through it.

“You are, y’know,” he said, finally sounding a little out of breath. “So beautiful. Always so beautiful. But especially like this. Love to watch you come for me--” His eyes slid closed, his arm locked tight around her stomach, and he thrust up into her one, two, three times more, shuddering as he came.

Darcy rubbed soothing circles on his arms until he recovered enough to lay her gently down on the bed and go deal with the condom, and did her best to ignore the sinking feeling that she was getting in way, way over her head.

* * *

Fortunately for the increasingly tender state of Darcy’s lady-parts, Steve was too hungry to try to start anything up in the shower. Parts of her were still disappointed, but the rest of her stared them down. Steve had been very careful with her, but the last 12 hours were still more action than she’d seen in months, and she was also starving. 

Between the two of them, they had pancakes, eggs, and bacon on the table in short order after getting out of the shower and plowed through them in companionable mostly-silence. Darcy was just guiltily contemplating getting a start on the homework she’d missed due to being kidnapped (her professors had been very understanding, with the Avengers corroborating her story) when an alarm went off, red light flashing throughout the cabin.

“Shit,” Steve swore, manipulating the projection that had appeared in midair with impressive skill, then swearing again, and flicking the entire thing closed with an impatient gesture. “C’mon, Darcy.”

He took her hand and tugged her up from the table and into the living room area. “Avengers authorization four m three r one c four,” he said, and the floor sank down smoothly under their feet, carrying them down into a dimly lit space that looked bigger than the entire cabin. Darcy followed him off it as soon as it stopped moving, and it shot back up with disturbing speed, sealing them in silently.

“What is this?” she asked, looking around at the sleekly technological space. 

“Panic room,” Tony Stark’s voice answered her from a wall screen. “After what happened last Christmas, I started setting up safe houses around the country, just in case. Just goes to show, you’re not paranoid if they really are out to get you.”

“Status report?” Steve asked impatiently, practically vibrating with the need to go out and punch someone.

Tony sobered. “You’ve got what looks like three Hydra Strike teams converging on the cabin. We’re inbound, but even with the Quinjet it’s going to take us at least twenty minutes. Well, fifteen for Thor,” he amended, glancing right. “He’s still real pissed about that whole kidnapping his girlfriend thing.”

Steve gritted his teeth, and Darcy started rubbing soothing circles on his back before she’d even consciously realized she’d done so. “And why weren’t we warned before you leaked our location?” he asked, his jaw flexing.

“Because we didn’t,” Tony said soberly. “We had the leaks mostly isolated and were about to start testing our suspects by sharing different locations for the two of you, but apparently Hydra has more sources than just their moles in my security. Sit tight, Cap, we’ll be there before you know it.”

The picture on the screen winked out, only to be replaced with camera footage of heavily armed teams creeping through the woods around the cabin, moving with the lethal ease of well-trained troops. Darcy didn’t even realize she’d started shaking until Steve pulled her into his arms, his fingers threading through her hair and pressing her face into his shoulder so she couldn’t see them anymore.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, holding her close. “It’s okay, Darcy. You’re safe, I promise. I’ve got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, my apologies for the delay in updating. I signed up for waaay too many holiday fic exchange thingies, and I didn't realize it until I was signing up for my fifth one. Mea culpa. 
> 
> Finishing this fic is my top priority in the new year, though! Stay tuned for regular updates, and thanks so much for your patience with me! 
> 
> As always, you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://dizzy-redhead.tumblr.com) for pictures of Chris Evans and a smattering of pretty much everything else.


	9. Must Be Tuesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things take an unexpected turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this chapter contains slight spoilers for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., if that's something that you care about. Please also note that this fic is _not_ Age of Ultron compliant, because I don't feel like dealing with it. I've updated the tags to reflect some potentially disturbing/triggering things that occur in this chapter; if you're not certain, please check the tags or the endnotes before reading. Please always consider your own mental health.

Fifteen minutes later, a line of lightning crashed between the minions that were milling around the woods and the cabin. Thor’s battle cry echoed between the trees as he landed and started laying about him with Mjolnir. By the time Iron Man and the Quinjet landed, he was happily knocking minions into each other and keeping score of how many he could take out with one blow (seven was the most he’d managed, after bouncing one of them off a tree to ricochet into another one).

When Steve finally agreed that it was safe enough for them to come up out of the panic room, the minions were cuffed and waiting in sullen lines to be transported elsewhere. Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow were circling them, radiating casual menace and making loud bets on which one might make a break for it and who could take them down first. Hulk was climbing trees until they bent toward the ground, then riding the springing trunks until he could thump to the ground ominously near the prisoners, chuckling to himself when they flinched back.

“Recognize anyone?” Tony asked Darcy, popping his faceplate up. “Might help if we have someone to start questioning, instead of just going at random.”

She started to shake her head, then someone caught her eye, and she started walking closer, Steve following on her heels. He was already pulling her away when the woman lunged toward her, biting down and breathing a fine mist into Darcy’s face.

She inhaled in shock, and then again when the woman stiffened, her skin turning black and crackled, like she was a statue made of ash. Tony reached out to her and they all watched in shock as she crumbled to dust at the touch of the gauntlet, the space she had occupied shockingly empty.

Darcy turned to Steve. “What---” she looked down at her feet in horror, watching the crawling black coating creeping up her legs. “Steve, what--”

“Don’t move, Darcy,” he said immediately, his hands steadying her before pulling away. “I’m here, I’m not leaving you, just...don’t move.”

His eyes were the last thing she saw before the blackness swept over her vision.

* * *

Steve backed away from the black, crackled figure that had been Darcy (that  _ was  _ Darcy, dammit), grabbing the next prisoner in line and dragging him away. “What. Did. She. Do?” he demanded, keeping his voice even through sheer force of will.

“I don’t know,” the man insisted, his eyes wide. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Tony stepped out of his suit, keeping the gauntlets on, and gathered up some of the dust that was all that was left of the Hydra soldier, careful to give Darcy a wide berth. “I can do more analysis back at the Tower, but make sure nobody touches this stuff with their bare hands. Just in case.”

“Oh,  I don’t know,” Steve drawled, dragging his prisoner closer. The man started to struggle as he realized what was about to happen, but Steve didn’t even have to use both hands to keep him moving. “I think it might be instructive to see what happens if someone touches it instead of inhaling it. You know, for science.”

“It seems only fair,” Thor growled, hefting Mjolnir in a menacing manner that suggested there were worse fates than touching an unknown substance. Clint and Natasha stood behind him, their faces as expressionless and deadly as ever, and the man wilted in Steve’s grip when Hulk growled at him.

Tony opened his mouth to say something when Steve took the man’s wrist and started moving it inexorably toward the pile of dust, but before he could get any words out, there was a crackling noise behind them.

They all whirled. Steve’s stomach sank as he seemed to move in slow motion, cursing himself for leaving Darcy, even to seek answers about her condition (to seek revenge on her murderers, the part of himself he hated to acknowledge whispered).

Bits of ash flaked away from her shoulder as she came into his vision, then her fingers, and Steve knew with a dreadful certainty that he was watching Darcy’s death; that this bright, fascinating woman was dead because he hadn’t been fast enough, good enough, strong enough. Never enough.

Then the ash exploded away from her body in a rush of wind, the prisoners flinching away, and Darcy stood there, blinking, but apparently unharmed. 

Steve rushed over but stopped short of touching her, still irrationally terrified that she would crumble to nothing. “Darcy? Are you--”

“I--” she looked down at herself, wiggling her fingers, lifting her feet off the ground. “I’m okay, I think?”

Steve didn’t realize he was crying until her fingers brushed across his cheeks.

* * *

Darcy looked up from her laptop as Dr. Banner (“Call me Bruce,” he’d said wryly. “You’ve met the Other Guy; no need for formality.”) and Dr. Cho (“Helen,” she’d insisted.) came into the very nice room in what Tony insisted on calling the sickbay, even though literally everyone had reminded him repeatedly that they weren’t on a ship. “What’s up, docs?” she asked, because inappropriate humor was her way of dealing with frightening situations. Steve reached over from his chair next to the bed and squeezed her hand.

Bruce cleared his throat, clearly unsure how to tell her whatever they’d discovered. 

Helen shook her head at him. “You appear to have undergone some sort of mutation,” she said gently.

Darcy flinched. “Mutation?” 

Helen nodded, her eyes sympathetic. “We have DNA samples from shed skin and hair at the cabin, and also earlier here, at the Tower. Comparing them to your current DNA, there’s no question that a mutation has occurred. We just don’t know why, or what the results will be.”

“I do,” a voice said from the door.

Darcy let out an involuntary yelp as Steve’s hand tightened on hers (he let go almost immediately, patting her fingers gently in apology), and she caught a flash of green in Bruce’s eyes as he turned toward the door. She hadn’t personally seen the blandly nondescript man standing there since their misadventures in New Mexico, but being Avengers-adjacent meant that she’d heard what had happened just before the Battle of New York.

“Agent Coulson,” she said, as calmly as possible under the circumstances. “I suppose you can understand why we’re all a little surprised to see you.”

Coulson inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment. “I’m afraid the reports of my death, while accurate at that point in time, were...incomplete. But the salient point at the moment, Miss Lewis, is that I know what has happened to you.”

“I’d be interested to hear the complete report,” Steve said. His voice was calm, but it was his Captain voice, and Darcy laced her fingers with his again, trying to provide some small comfort. “But yes, knowing what’s happened to Darcy would be the place to start.”

Coulson’s eyes tightened at Steve’s tone, but the rest of his face remained impassive as he held up a data chip. “JARVIS, may I?”

“There is a port on the wall to your left,” the AI answered coolly.

“Thank you,” Coulson said politely, moving to the indicated wall and plugging in the chip./

Holographic displays sprang to life in the middle of the room, and he began to speak again. “Here’s what we know. Millennia ago, an alien race known as the Kree came to Earth…”

* * *

“Okay,” Darcy said slowly. “So, I could’ve died, but I didn’t, and now I have some kind of powers, but we don’t know what yet?”

“I think we probably have a pretty good idea,” Coulson said, his eyes kind as he looked at her. Or, no, not at her. At her...legs?

Darcy looked down and realized that, while she was still sitting cross-legged on what she assumed was the bed, there were a good three inches between her legs and the sheets. She let out a little yelp. “What the actual fuck? I can fly? Or, well, hover?”

Bruce cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think that’s all of it, Darcy. Look at your hair.”

“What about my hair?” Darcy demanded, twisting around to try and look at her hair. “Did it change color or something? Is that why Steve keeps petting it?”

She froze when she realized Steve was holding up both hands, but the soothing sensation of someone running their fingers through her hair didn’t stop. “Let me see!” she demanded.

JARVIS helpfully threw up a video feed so she could see herself. She looked like she was about to be in a shampoo commercial, her hair moving in a breeze that apparently affected no one else. 

“It may be too early to say without further tests,” Coulson said, drawing her eyes back to him. “But I believe that you now have the ability to control air currents.”

Darcy slumped back against...well, nothing, but something curved around her and supported her. “Ooookay,” she said on a long exhale. “Mutation, powers, people coming back from the dead. Must be Tuesday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilery trigger warnings:
> 
> Canon-typical violence  
> A Hydra minion carries out a suicide attack and dies.  
> Steve thinks Darcy is dead and is on the verge of torturing a Hydra minion for answers
> 
> Also, if you got here, thanks for reading so far! I hope to be able to stick to a pretty frequent update schedule until the fic is complete, but I make no promises, because that's the quickest way to make life just melt down around me. 
> 
> As always, feel free to come flail at me on [Tumblr](http://dizzy-redhead.tumblr.com). I post a lot of pictures of Chris Evans (and some other stuff, too)


	10. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson wants Darcy to come to S.H.I.E.L.D. for training, but Darcy has some things to say about that (mostly just "Nope.")

“So you see,” Coulson concluded, “I think, all things considered, it’s probably best if Miss Lewis returns to S.H.I.E.L.D. with me, at least until she has a better handle on her powers.”

Steve opened his mouth, presumably to protest, but Darcy squeezed his hand, hard, and he closed it again. 

“I don’t think I’m comfortable with that,” she said, turning her attention to Coulson. “No, given that we didn’t know S.H.I.E.L.D. was still around until you showed up today, I _know_  I’m not comfortable with that. Especially considering that Hydra may be looking for me; we still don’t know why they decided to do this to me.”

Coulson sighed. “Valid points, Miss Lewis. Are you sure I can’t convince you to reconsider?”

Darcy shook her head. “I have absolutely zero desire to disappear inside a secret government agency, sorry.”

He winced. “I suppose I deserved that. Could I convince you to accept an instructor that can help you learn to control your powers?”

“Trying to bring a mole into my Tower, Agent?” Tony asked as he breezed through the door. “Well, the more, the merrier, I guess. Nice to be asked first. Refreshing, really.”

Coulson’s face smoothed out into it’s original bland pleasantness as he turned to face Tony. “Naturally, anyone coming here would need to pass your security checks, Mr. Stark.”

“Everyone’s on the same page, then,” Tony said, pulling up a holoscreen and fiddling with something. “So if that’s all you came for, you can go.”

The skin around Coulson’s eyes tightened almost imperceptibly, but he nodded. “I suppose I should.”

“Have you seen Clint or Natasha?” Steve asked.

Coulson paused on his way to the door, but he didn’t turn around. “No, I--no.”

“You should,” Steve said. It was his Captain voice, sure and steady.

“I suspect they’d rather not see me,” Coulson said, his voice level, but his shoulders were tight, like he was expecting an attack. 

“Don’t they deserve to make that decision?” Steve asked.

Coulson’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right,” he said, his voice resigned. “But I believe Mr. Stark will be more comfortable when I’m no longer on the premises.”

“I’ll allow it,” Tony said cheerfully, flicking the holoscreen out of existence. “But only because I want to watch.”

“Joy,” Coulson said, but he continued out the door, Tony babbling in his wake.

* * *

Darcy was sitting cross-legged on the rooftop terrace, amusing herself by seeing what she could convince the air around her to do. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head, the whole thing covered with a beanie, but little breezes kept teasing curling strands out from under the hat, brushing up against her skin like friendly puppies begging to be petted.

Her play was interrupted by JARVIS’s voice. “Excuse me, Miss Lewis,” the AI said, “but you have a visitor. I believe she is the instructor that Agent Coulson offered to send.”

Darcy took a deliberately deep breath as she felt her pulse start to race. “Has she been cleared through security?”

“Tower security, Mr. Stark,  _ and _ Agent Romanoff have all verified her identity,” JARVIS confirmed.

“Okay, then,” she said, sparing a minute to wish she was wearing something a little more badass-looking than her favorite thrift-store sweater and jeans. “Send her on up, I guess.”

She had enough time to debate how she should greet whoever was coming (stand up? stay sitting? pose dramatically by the railing?) but not enough to make a decision when the doors into the Tower interior opened and a petite brunette walked onto the terrace. She had the kind of effortless style that had always made Darcy feel incredibly frumpy and bad at being a girl, but her eyes lit up when she saw Darcy sitting on her cushion of air.

“You must be Darcy,” she said, crossing the rooftop and offering her hand. “I’m Daisy.”

Darcy was startled into a laugh. “Daisy and Darcy? Did Coulson do this on purpose?”

Daisy shook her head. “Nah, probably not. I don’t think AC would do that. But what do you say I get started teaching you so that we can scare the shit out of the first person to call us the Double Ds by dangling them off the edge of the roof?”

“Ten bucks says it’s Tony,” Darcy grinned and took the offered hand, letting Daisy pull her to her feet. “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

* * *

“Hey,” Steve said, looking up from where he was sketching on one of the couches as Darcy and Daisy came into the common room. “How was training?”

By way of answer Darcy wrapped the air around his pencil and lifted it out of his hand, floating it toward her until it thunked into her palm. She grinned triumphantly at him, then tossed it back before hopping over the arm of the couch and sliding under Steve’s outstretched arm.

“You’re doing great,” Daisy said, curling up in one of the armchairs across from them. “A lot of people spend the first week or so freaking out before they start figuring out how to control their powers. You skipped right over that part.”

Darcy shrugged. “After alien demigods, space elves, World War II superheroes, etc., my freak-out quotient is pretty much used up. Honestly, as much weird shit as happens in my life, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Ending it with powers instead of dead or permanently damaged is the best possible scenario.” 

“I know what you mean,” Daisy said, her mouth twisted ruefully. “Even if some days it’s hard to remember that.”

They sat in silence for a minute, then Darcy shoved herself to her feet (possibly assisted by a gentle shove from the air). “Well, enough wallowing. Who wants margaritas?”

* * *

“Whoa, there,” Steve said, catching Darcy just before she slithered out of his grasp. He tugged her closer to his side, trying to ignore the air currents that were tugging at his hair and slipping under his clothes like curious fingers. She went willingly enough, giggling, as they stepped into the elevator.

“You’re so pretty, Scht--Steve,” she slurred, nuzzling her face into the side of his chest. “So preeeeetty. Pretty eyelashes, pretty eyes, pretty mouth. Pretty, pretty, pretty.”

Steve felt the flush starting on his face and spreading down his neck and onto his chest, but did his best to ignore her continuing sing-song. “JARVIS, is Daisy all right?”

“Miss Johnson is resting comfortably in one of the guest suites,” the AI confirmed. “Prince Thor and Agent Romanoff have seen to it that she’s taken care of.”

“Dai-sy,” Darcy changed her refrain. “Daisy and Darcy. Darcy and Daisy.”

“How many margaritas did you have?” Steve asked, shifting his grip again as they exited the elevator, then jumping as one of the air currents slipped under the waistband of his pants and goosed him. “Jesus Christ, Darcy!”

“Ooops, sorry,” Darcy said, looking penitent. “Shouldn’t touch without asking. Too many margaritash. With te-qui-la. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.”

Steve found himself laughing helplessly, then made a failed grab for Darcy as she actually managed to wiggle out of his grasp and take a couple of staggering steps before her legs gave out. He lunged for her, watching in sick, helpless horror as her head headed for the sharp edge of the nearest door-frame--

\--until her entire body shifted to the side, just enough that she floated down to a resting place on--no, a couple of inches  _ above _ the floor. 

Darcy blinked owlishly up at him. “Steve? Why’re you up there? Why’m I onna floor?”

“Because you’re very drunk,” Steve answered, squatting down and scooping her up into a bridal carry before striding down the hall toward her suite, trying to slow the racing of his heart by sheer willpower alone.

“I c’n walk,” she insisted, wriggling in his grasp, but without her feet on the floor she couldn’t get enough leverage to get free.

Steve shook his head. “You just about gave me a heart attack, Darce. Could’ve cracked your head open. I’m not putting you down until you’re in a nice soft bed where you can sleep it off.”

She struggled for a minute longer, then gave in, nestling herself against his chest and tucking her face into the side of his neck. “Okay,” she mumbled. “Bed.”

He dropped a kiss on top of her hair as he navigated through the doorway of her suite and into the bedroom. It took a bit of juggling to pull the covers on the bed down, since Darcy now steadfastly refused to be put down, clinging to him like a vine. He finally managed, though, setting her down on the soft white sheets and pulling the fluffy duvet up over her body before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

Steve straightened up, but before he could leave, Darcy’s hand shot out from under the covers, wrapping around his wrist. “Stay?”

“You need your sleep, sweetheart,” he said gently. “It’s going to be a rough morning.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and he felt his heart twist at the fear he saw there. “Please?” she asked softly. “I just...I just don’t want to be alone.”

“Okay,” he said, freeing his wrist from her grasp and lifting her hand to his lips before stripping off his shirt and pants and sliding into the other side of the bed. Darcy snuggled up against him immediately, wrapping herself around him. He stroked her hair until he felt her relax against him, her breathing slowing down and evening out. 

“Sleep now, sweetheart,” he whispered, kissing her hair and closing his own eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really fighting me, but I finally got it whipped into shape. Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on the last chapter; to be perfectly honest, this fic would probably have fallen by the wayside months ago if it wasn't for all of you who've subscribed and left kudos and comments. You kept me moving forward and motivate me to figure out what happens next. So thank you!!!
> 
> As always, you can come flail at me about feels or ships or pretty much anything on [Tumblr](http://dizzy-redhead.tumblr.com)


	11. Feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy further explores her new powers

Steve came awake instantly as soon as Darcy started to move, shifting restlessly next to him, whimpering under her breath. He pulled her closer, rubbing soothing circles on her back, but she kept twisting and turning, the fearful noises she was making tearing at his heart.

“Darcy,” he murmured, pushing her hair back from her face with his free hand. “You’re okay, sweetheart. You’re safe. Come back to me now.”

“No!” Darcy screamed, sitting bolt upright in the bed as an invisible hand shoved Steve off the bed with enough force that he made it halfway to the wall, several feet away. “No, move, you’ll die, you have to move--”

“Darcy!” Steve snapped, instinctively using his Captain voice. “Darcy, wake up!”

Her eyes flew open, and for a few moments he wasn’t at all sure what she was seeing, but he knew instinctively that it wasn’t her comfortable (lavish, by any definition other than Tony Stark’s) room in the Tower. Then she blinked, and he could see the moment when she realized where she was.

“Steve?” Her voice was a little hoarse.

“It’s me,” he said, dropping his voice to a more soothing register. “I’m here. We’re in the Tower. You’re fine.”

She turned her head to look at him, then winced and closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Why--Did I--are you all right? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” he reassured her, standing up from the floor and climbing back into bed. She shrank back from him a little when he reached for her, wincing again at the movement. “Are you okay? Looked like a hell of a nightmare.”

Darcy hung her head a little, picking at the duvet with her fingernails instead of meeting his eyes. “I have them, sometimes. After New Mexico. London.” She stopped for a long moment, and Steve waited, covering her hand with his own. “It was that woman, crumbling...dust was blowing toward you and Tony and Natasha and Clint...I couldn’t stop it, couldn’t keep it away--”

This time she didn’t resist when he pulled her into his arms. “Just a dream, sweetheart. You’re okay. We’re okay.”

“Sorry,” she sniffled against his shoulder. “Bet you didn’t think you’d end up babysitting a mutant basket case.”

“You’re not a basket case, Darcy,” he said firmly, lifting her chin until she met his eyes. “You’ve been through a lot in the last few years. I’d be surprised if you didn’t have nightmares from time to time. God knows I do; you’ve just been lucky enough to not be sharing a bed with me yet when it happens. Gave Bucky a black eye and a split lip the first time he tried to wake me up from one.”

She smiled, a little watery. “Really?”

Steve sighed, tucking her back against his shoulder. “Tell you a secret; it wasn’t anything you’d think I’d have a nightmare about. Hadn’t seen much combat at that point, just busting the 107th out of Azzano. But that wasn’t what I dreamed about. Dreamed I was back in that machine, back in Brooklyn, with the serum burning through me. Trapped. Screaming. And when I came out--” he cut himself off, shaking his head.

“What?” she asked softly, her arm wrapping around his waist.

“When I came out,” he said slowly, “everyone was dead. My friends and family, all the people from the neighborhood, the men from the 107th, the chorus girls from those goddamn USO shows. All dead, and I was still that skinny little weakling that couldn’t even protect himself. Much less them.”

Darcy pressed a kiss to his shoulder, and he rubbed his hand up and down her back. They lay like that for some immeasurable amount of time. Steve didn’t realize that he’d fallen asleep until he woke to light streaming through the windows.

* * *

“Close your eyes,” Daisy said, sitting cross-legged on the exercise mat.

Darcy obeyed, amazed as always at the way removing one sense from the equation seemed to amplify the others.

“Feel the air,” Daisy said, her voice calm and smooth like it always was when she was teaching. Darcy made a mental note to tell her later how good she was at it. “Feel where it’s touching you, and follow it to something else it’s touching. Watch how it moves”

Darcy let her mind brush through the air currents touching her skin, the little ones that always seemed to be tugging at the ends of her hair. She followed one like a string--no, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t like a string, with two ends in separate places. It was like a wave, always moving, never still, breaking on and around objects and people but always reforming again. It swirled through the mostly still air of the room, brushing lightly through the ends of Daisy’s hair (Darcy got a brief sense impression of _soft/light/moving_ ) before flowing across the subtle texture of the mat to the line of weights.

“Ready,” Darcy said, aware as she’d never been before of the air moving out of her lungs, up her throat, vibrated into meaning as it passed her vocal cords and was shaped by tongue and teeth and lips.

She felt Daisy’s nod in the way it pushed at the air around her. “Just like before. Start with the smallest. See if you can do it with your hands in your lap.”

Darcy nodded, her fingers twitching where they rested on her leg, and curled the air current around the grip of the smallest dumbbell, lifting it up off the mat and holding it there for five seconds before setting it down and moving on to the next largest. It was a strange sensation, something like learning a new programming language or designing a new spreadsheet to do Jane’s data calculations. Keeping her hands in her lap, as difficult as it was, made her realize that air was touching her everywhere, and if it was touching her, she could use it. With her eyes closed, she became aware of exactly how much information she could gather from what the air was touching, her brain quickly adapting to interpret it in familiar ways, so that by the time she was lifting the largest dumbbell, she could practically feel the cool, heavy weight of it as though it were sitting in her palm instead of ten feet away. She lowered it to the floor and opened her eyes.

“Good!” Daisy said, smiling warmly. “How did that feel?”

Darcy took stock. “Not too bad,” she said slowly. “It definitely felt like work, but I don’t think I strained anything.”

Daisy grinned. “Hungry?”

“Oh, yeah,” Darcy said, unfolding herself from the mat and glancing over at the line of weights. “I could eat a--holy shit, how much does that thing weigh?”

“300 pounds,” Steve said from behind her. “Daisy had me make some changes while your eyes were closed.”

Darcy laughed a little unsteadily. “I’m not even mad. I just lifted 300 pounds without touching it? It’s definitely time for lunch. Let’s go drag Jane out of her lab so we can be sure she eats at least one meal today. I’m thinking pizza.”

“I’m down for that,” Daisy said, following her out the door. “Did I ever tell you about that time I accidentally started an avalanche?”

* * *

“What bothers me,” Darcy said after finishing her sixth slice of sausage pizza (good thing there were still at least three more spread across the table in the  common dining area), “is that we still don’t know why Hydra did this to me. Or even if they were targeting me. Also, why am I still hungry?”

“Using your powers burns a lot of energy,” Daisy said. “Especially while you’re still learning. The energy to lift those weights had to come from somewhere. You may not be feeling it in your muscles, but your body knows that it needs to refuel.”

“Makes sense,” Jane said, finally deciding to join the conversation after staring off into space for the space of one slice of pepperoni and doodling frantically on a napkin through the second and third. “Energy can’t be created, as far as we know. And studies have shown that concentrating burns calories, so if your brain has been rebuilt to handle this ability, it makes sense that your body would also be redesigned to feed it the energy that it needs.”

Darcy nodded, chewing and swallowing. “Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why me?”

“They might not have been after you,” Daisy said. “Not specifically. They could’ve been trying for Steve, and you got in the way. Or it could’ve just been a random suicide attack. I don’t know how that faction got their hands on terrigen crystals, but they might not have known that they could transform you. If they’d never run into anyone with Inhuman genetics before, they might have just been using them as a particularly gruesome execution method.”

Darcy shuddered, and Steve put a comforting hand on her knee. “We don’t know enough to be sure,” he agreed. “But Tony’s working on it.”

“I probably am,” Tony agreed, as he walked into the room. “Hey, the Double Ds! Just who I was looking for--hey!” He yelped as he seemed to flip in midair, dangling from nothing, and started to move toward the French doors leading out onto the rooftop terrace. “What--hey--no, I’m sorry--”

He paused just inside the doors, but they swung open, letting the breeze in. Daisy and Darcy crossed their arms and stared at him with identical unamused expressions. He looked at Steve, who was studiously ignoring what was going on in favor of carefully evaluating his remaining pizza selections, and deflated.

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

Darcy raised an eyebrow. “For?”

Tony rolled his eyes, then yelped again as he twitched toward the open doors. “I’m sorry for calling you the Double Ds.”

“And?” Daisy prompted.

“And I won’t do it again, so please let me down? Please?” He attempted a winning smile.

Darcy and Daisy shared a long look, then turned back to Tony. “The next time, you’re hanging off the edge of the roof.”

“Yes, yes, absolutely,” he started babbling. Darcy was tempted to drop him on his head, but she flipped him onto one of the couches in the conversation area instead.

“The next time he does what?” a cool voice asked from behind them, and Pepper Potts’ heels clicked on the smooth tile.

“Tony called them the Double Ds,” Steve said, his face completely innocent and earnest in the way that he only was when he was trolling. “They didn’t seem very happy for some reason.”

Pepper’s lips pressed together. “I need to see you in my office,” she told Tony, turning on her heel. “Ladies, I sincerely apologize. And _so will he_.”

“Narc,” Tony hissed at Steve as he walked past, following helplessly in her wake.

Daisy shook her head as the door closed behind them. “Wait til I tell Coulson what a troll Captain America is. He’s not going to believe me.”

“Right?” Darcy dropped down into her chair and went back for a seventh slice. “Who knew?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Steve said, his innocent expression still intact, then ducked when Daisy and Darcy both threw their pizza crust at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad you guys are enjoying the new turn this story has taken! Thank you so much for your comments and kudos; I hoard each and every one of them like the precious jewels they are. Big thanks to Aenaria for looking over this chapter for me!


	12. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy vs. Hydra, round two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long (really, sometimes I think I should get that tattooed on my forehead). The problem is that this fic took SUCH a sharp turn from where I thought it was going in the beginning that I got very stuck because I didn't know where I was going (this chapter has been half finished for almost a month).
> 
> Big, huge, enormous thanks to [Aenaria](http://aenariasbookshelf.tumblr.com/) for talking me through it and reassuring me that it didn't suck and didn't need to be completely scrapped.
> 
> The good news is that I think I know where we're going now, so hopefully the story will be wrapped up soon. Thanks for your patience; I hope it's worth it.

Darcy woke to blinding light, stabbing into her eyes as they fluttered open. For a moment, she could believe that she was in her own bed after yet another night staying up too late with Daisy, comparing “no shit, really” stories and drinking far too many margaritas (or whatever other drink had caught their fancy). But when she tried to lift an arm to throw it over her eyes, the movement was stopped by something around her wrists.

Her eyes flew fully open and she tried again, only to discover the thick leather restraints holding her down on the cold metal table. It all came flooding back--introducing Daisy to her favorite coffee shop (the one with the strawberry shortcake scones) and strolling back to the tower, lattes in hand. A sudden sting in her neck, her legs giving out like there was jelly instead of bone in them, Daisy’s unconscious body slumping across her legs, then nothing.

Darcy looked around frantically, but Daisy was nowhere to be seen. The room had all of the qualities that said “lab”--white walls, painfully bright fluorescent lights (one of them buzzing, always), stainless steel tables and counters, and the air of sterility that only came when every surface was aggressively disinfected on a routine basis. It was a small room, with just enough room for the central table where she was strapped down (not just by her wrists, but also with straps around her ankles, waist, and upper chest as well; someone had an overinflated opinion of her abilities as an escape artist, but at least they’d left her her clothes) and the narrow counters against the wall. If her arms had been free, she thought she could have brushed the counters with her fingertips from where she lay--her glance shied away from the tray of shining steel implements near her head, sharp and terrifying, and she had to fight to control her breathing and slow her racing heartbeat as the metal rattled in the sudden breeze that whipped around the room.

_ Close your eyes, _ she heard Daisy’s voice in her memory, and she obeyed, making herself close them lightly instead of screwing them shut against the light. Okay. First order of business, breathing.

When she didn’t feel like there was a Hulk sitting on her chest anymore, she let herself reach out to the air currents in the room, feeling them swirling sluggishly around. They meandered up and up and up until they slid through the louvers of a vent near the ceiling and down a ventilation shaft barely large enough for a rabbit to fit through, blocked at intervals by mesh grids that crackled with electricity. She was just at the point where she was starting to hear voices carried in from vents in other rooms when her awareness was abruptly jerked back to her body as the door into the room opened.

“Ah, Miss...Lewis, was it? We meet again,” Dr. Miller said as he entered the room. 

“I could’ve done without the pleasure,” Darcy said shortly, trying not to show her shock at the man’s changed appearance. Burn scars had seared away the hair on much of his head, and the corner of his left eye twitched irregularly, not at all in time with the shaking of his fingertips. “What do you want me for? I’m not an astrophysicist, and I have no fucking clue how to build a wormhole to Asgard.”

Dr. Miller tsked at her. “Language, Ms. Lewis. So unbecoming in a young lady, especially one keeping company with Captain America.”

Darcy couldn’t control her instinctive flinch, and the doctor smiled, scar tissue twisting it into something terrifying. “Oh, yes, we know all about you and the good captain. We’ve been watching you almost ever since you and Doctor Foster affected your little escape. Quite aside from whether have any inherent value in and of yourself, it seems quite likely that having you in our possession could net us at least one Avenger, if not more. Possibly even Captain America himself. The other groups who believe themselves to be Hydra who would be quite interested in getting their hands on him.”

Darcy’s skin crawled at the mental image of what would happen to  Steve in Hydra’s hands, but she did her best to control her reaction this time. “So I’m bait?”

“Well,” Dr. Miller said, stretching the word out like every professor who’d ever tried to flaunt his superior knowledge. Darcy gritted her teeth. “Perhaps not  _ just _ bait. I’ve had some reports that you had quite a...transformative experience recently, Ms. Lewis. I’m quite interested to help you explore these changes. For science, you understand.”

Darcy started twisting her wrists in the restraints and Dr. Miller began lecturing about how escape-proof they were and how futile her efforts were, which she ignored in favor of curling a piece of air around one of the scalpels on the tray, moving slowly to keep it from rattling, and pulling it over until it was hidden under her hip. 

She was only going to get one shot.

* * *

They didn’t start with dissection immediately, so no one noticed the scalpel had gone missing from the tray. First generic medical technicians were brought in to draw blood, filling vial after vial and carrying them away for, presumably, testing, and hooking up an IV of something, probably to replace the fluids and blood sugar she’d lost. The whole thing went on long enough that any terror had to fade under the complete banality of the situation; if it hadn’t been for the restraints, this could have been any medical clinic. 

After the technicians had been gone for several minutes, a couple of white-suited flunkies came in and pulled up what looked like DNA (thank you, biology elective) on a wall screen and stood around it making noises that were, to Darcy’s academia-trained ear, less about sharing knowledge and more about making it clear to their colleague how very smart they were. The noises intensified when Dr. Miller came back into the room, but he only listened to them for a few moments before shooing them back out the door.

“Well, Miss Lewis,” he said expansively. “This is very interesting. Your DNA has almost completely altered from its previous state. We have samples from the facilities where you were held, of course, but we had no idea that the substance could effect such changes. Weber was simply instructed to take her best chance to assassinate any of the Avengers, if possible. It’s a shame it didn’t work, but the chance to study such a transformation makes the failure worthwhile.”

Darcy shook her head. “So, a woman died, but it’s okay, because now you have a new lab rat?”

Dr. Miller smiled patronizingly down at her. “Knowledge has a cost, Miss Lewis. Every great discovery is made only after many struggles, often deaths. How many thousands died before the smallpox vaccine was developed? How many lives were lost in airplane crashes, or the space race? But humanity as a whole is always the better, always learning and moving forward.”

Darcy closed her eyes, sickened. 

“Well, clearly you never had the stomach for scientific pursuits,” Dr. Miller said. “It’s late. Get some rest if you can, Miss Lewis. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”

* * *

It took several tries before Darcy managed to get a restraint undone. She started by attempting to saw through it with her stolen scalpel, but the blade dulled quickly. Wrapping air around the end of the strap and finding just the right angle to pull to release it involved quite a bit of trial and error, but once she had a hand free, she was able to get free of the rest of the straps in short order. She swung her legs over the side of the table, stretching cautiously when she realized how stiff she was after lying in the same position all day. Pins and needles prickled along her skin as the blood rushed back to her extremities, and she bit her lip to hold back a pained noise.

When the tingling faded and she was fairly certain her legs wouldn’t collapse under her, Darcy stood cautiously, flinching a little at the cold of the tile as it bit into her feet. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, narrowing her focus and following the air currents that flowed under the door and out into a larger space. She couldn’t feel any movement or human presence, at least, not within the range that she could sense. After a certain distance, either the air currents were so diffuse or her focus wouldn’t last, but either way, she had to give up after several attempts to further. 

Darcy curled an air current under the door and up the other side. She was braced for some kind of biometric lock like the kind Tony had in the Tower, her mind racing with ways that she could spoof it, but apparently the Hydra budget didn’t stretch to Stark-level technology (or they were rightly afraid of the way someone like Tony or Daisy could use it against them). Whatever the reason, the door was secured with three keyed locks. After a few false starts, Darcy was able to “pick” each one (and then go back and do it again when she figured out that they had to be unlocked in a certain order). 

Finally, after what felt like eternity, the door swung open and Darcy could see the hall outside. It could’ve been any office or college campus building; just a long line of nondescript doors. For a minute, she just considered sitting down on the floor and waiting for what came next. Surely, if she could wait long enough, Steve or Tony or the rest of the Avengers would find her? 

“Suck it up, Lewis,” she muttered quietly, grabbing another sharp pointy implement off the metal tray, leaving the dulled scalpel in its place. “You’ve gotten out of worse than this, and now you’ve got honest-to-Thor superpowers. So get your butt in gear before those Hydra assholes come back.”

Mentally flipping a coin, she went left and checked the next door, which turned out to be unlocked. She opened it reluctantly, a little afraid of what she might find, but it, like all the other doors on the hall, opened to dark, empty rooms, completely bare even of furniture. All except the one that did have some kind of a key-card lock, which her air powers were useless against, and the one at the right end of the hall (in the opposite direction from the one she’d gone, of course) which opened on a stairwell. Apparently even Hydra wasn’t immune from fire-code enforcement.

Darcy crept down the stairs, wrapping cushions of air under her feet so they wouldn’t make any noise that would echo in the concrete walls of the stairwell, even though she hadn’t sensed any presence either above or below her. She reached the ground floor without incident, but she had to lean against the wall for a moment before extending her focus under the door. A wave of dizziness washed over her, her stomach grumbled loudly, and she mentally promised it two large pizzas and an ice-cream binge if it would just shut up and let her get out of here.

She stayed leaning against the wall, eyes closed, as she reached for the air sliding under the door. It felt like another hallway, this one shorter than the one upstairs that seemed to run the entire length of the building, and it also felt deserted--until she reached the end, where two warm, moving shapes stood on either side of what was almost certainly her way out.

Darcy wanted to cry, kick, scream, and throw a full-on tantrum, but she forced herself to breathe and consider her options. Daisy and Natasha had been working with her on combat, both hand-to-hand and with her powers. She wasn’t anywhere near good enough to take out two guards, not before they could raise the alarm. Not physically. But, as Daisy had pointed out when they began her training, no one could survive without air.

Darcy sank down to a sitting position, her back still against the wall. The floor was cold, but it warmed quickly under her, and she didn’t need the distraction of maintaining an air cushion underneath her. She let her awareness flow under the door, over the floor, and up until she could feel the in-out movement that had to be the two guards breathing. She took a moment to be absolutely sure she knew what she was going to do...then solidified the air around each person’s mouth and nose, sealing it. 

She was vaguely aware of their panicked movements, of fingers scrabbling at nothing, trying to remove whatever she’d done, but all of her focus was on keeping the air in their lungs exactly where it was. Finally, they both grew still, the area of her focus moving downward. She waited three long seconds before releasing her mental hold, letting her head fall back against the wall in relief when she felt the in-out of their breathing resume.

Darcy forced herself to her feet, even though all she wanted was to stay where she was and sleep for a week, and cautiously opened the stairwell door. There was the hall, there was the door, with the two guards unconscious on the floor to either side, and she made her way toward it as fast as she could.

She almost threw caution to the wind and barged straight through the door. The Darcy of five years ago would have, but this Darcy had learned patience and the importance of information. Resisting the urge to sink to the floor again, mainly because she wasn’t sure she’d have the energy to stand back up, she rested her forehead against the cold steel surface and followed the air currents under the door one more time. She did cry, just a couple of tears that slipped out before she could stop them, when she felt no living things in the room beyond, just a door that, judging by the change in temperature, led to the outside.

Darcy unlocked the door and pulled it open, wincing a little when it hit one of the guards’ heads with a thunk, and slipped through as quietly as she could, her bare feet hardly making a sound on the vinyl floor. She was across the room, her hand on the door to outside, when the voice spoke.

“Excellent work, Miss Lewis. Really very impressive, considering how little time for training you’ve had.”

Darcy turned slowly, helplessly, and there was Dr. Miller, smiling what he probably thought was a paternal smile at her.

“I’m leaving,” she said, surprised but relieved when her voice didn’t shake. 

“Oh, my dear,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t really think I’ll allow that, do you?”

“I don’t give a shit what you’re going to allow,” she snapped. “I’m going to walk out of this door and go home, and if you try to stop me, you’re going to wish that you’d died in Jane’s little bug zapper. I’m not going to stay here and let you take me apart to find out how my powers work.”

“Take you apart?” Dr. Miller tsked. “That would be a sad waste. Hydra has need for many people with many abilities. You would be a great asset to our cause, with the proper mental...adjustments.”

Darcy couldn’t suppress a shudder. “I’d rather die.”

“That can be arranged,” he said, his eyes flat and dead. “But what’s the saying? ‘Where there’s life, there’s hope’? I believe you are the type to cling to hope, and to life.”

Darcy suddenly realized that the door had been vibrating under her fingertips for almost their entire conversation, the vibrations becoming stronger and stronger. She moved to her right as quickly as she could, drawing a confused look from Dr. Miller, who looked like he was about to continue pontificating at her indefinitely, and pulled up a shield of hardened air between her and the door--

\--just in time to protect herself from the debris when it blew inward, slamming Dr. Miller to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to come visit my [Tumblr](http://dizzy-redhead.tumblr.com/) and flail at me about anything and everything, including, but not limited to, Darcy and Steve.


	13. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy's not home free just yet...

“Darcy!” Steve dashed into the room behind Daisy, ahead of the rest of the Avengers (minus Hulk, since the doorway was still intact, and she couldn’t see Hawkeye anywhere, but what else is new) and what had to be several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He pulled her to her feet, his eyes scanning her for obvious injuries. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, swallowing back the urge to cling to him and let the tears prickling at the backs of her eyes fall. “Just hungry is all. The room service here really, really sucks.”

Steve snorted out an incredulous laugh, those little wrinkles forming between his eyebrows that she always wanted to kiss away.. “We’re going to get you out of here, sweetheart.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Captain,” Dr. Miller called from across the room, pulling himself slowly to his feet. “We knew you would come for her, you see, and we...prepared. The serum has done many things to you, but will it allow you to survive the transformation?” 

He held up a device in his hand and pushed a button. A hidden panel in the wall slid back, revealing a strange-looking crystal that felt somehow familiar to Darcy, even though she’d never seen anything like it before. It took a moment for her to connect it to the photos Daisy had shown her of terrigen crystals, and it was a moment they didn’t have. 

Daisy’s eyes widened, and she barked, “All human agents, out of the room! Now!” but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were moving even before her mouth opened, flowing back out the door behind them, but they couldn’t all fit through the doorway at once. Too many of them were still in the room, still vulnerable to terrible death or terrigenesis. 

“A noble effort, Miss Johnson, but too slow, as always” Dr. Miller said patronizingly. He pushed the other button and the crystal flew toward them and exploded, shards arcing across the room in a deadly, glittering spray.

Darcy watched as if in slow motion as Daisy lifted her hand, trying to deflect the crystal pieces, but there were too many of them, and she couldn’t cover a wide enough front. Her vibrations broke the shards into smaller ones and spread them further, making it impossible to divert them all. They were going to reach Steve and Thor, Tony and Natasha, her nightmare made real, and something in Darcy snapped, the anguished protectiveness, the memory of everyone and everything she hadn’t been able to save rising inside her, a tsunami of rage wiping away everything in its path except her target

A massive blast of air hurled every microscopic crystal fragment, everything that was in the air between them, back toward Dr. Miller at hurricane speeds. The force of the wind slammed him into the wall behind him and the crystal shards, just seconds behind, drove into his skin. There wasn’t even time for blood to rise on the cuts before his skin crackled black, the darkness spreading from thousands of impact points until it covered his entire body. 

After a long, frozen moment, his hand fell off, crumbling to dust as it hit the floor, and Darcy nearly didn’t make it outside before vomiting, dry heaving the bile that was all her stomach contained into the grass outside the door. Steve held her hair out of her face and rubbed her back, murmuring soothing nonsense that she couldn’t register as words, not now, not yet.

When she started shaking, tears sliding down her face, he pulled her into his arms, wrapping her close, making his body the shield between her and the rest of the world.

She cried.

* * *

Darcy’s sobs had finally subsided, but she kept her face buried in Steve’s shoulder, unwilling to move just yet. If she moved, those strong arms would loosen their grip, and she wasn’t quite ready to leave the security of Steve’s embrace just yet.

“When we found out you were missing, I thought--” Steve’s voice, already barely audible, broke, and he cleared his throat before beginning again. “I thought I’d lost you. The whole time we were looking, on the way here, I thought we’d be too late.”

“But you weren’t,” she said, wincing a little at how rough her voice sounded and lifting her head to look him in the eye. “You made it. I’m here. You’re here. Besides, I was most of the way out. Self-rescuing princess, remember?”

Steve nodded. “I know. I just...all I could think was that I’d lost you, and I never told you.”

Darcy swallowed, the pit of her stomach churning. “Told me what?”

His mouth quirked up in a humorless smile. “Thought I’d wait until things calmed down, went back to normal, and tell you then. Stupid. I, of all people, should know there’s no such thing.”

“Steve,” she said, in a tone that hopefully made it very clear that her patience was wearing thin. “Tell me what?”

Steve took a deep breath and lifted his hands to her face, cradling it gently. “Darcy Lewis, I love you. I started falling in love with you when you told me that Cap was one-dimensional, and I’ve been free-falling ever since. I love that you’re a self-rescuing princess and I love that you let me take care of you sometimes. I love that you have powers to protect yourself, since apparently you get kidnapped a lot--”

“Hey!” Darcy interrupted indignantly. “I’ll have you know that I never once got kidnapped before I met you.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, a tiny grin playing around the corner of his mouth. “And I love that you’re the kind of person who helps fight off space elves and rescues dogs from Asgardian death robots. I love that you get giggly and try to feel me up when you’re drunk and that you let me hold you when you have nightmares. I am completely fucking gone on you, Darcy, and I wanna tell you every day.”

Darcy felt a tremulous smile breaking across her face, even though she couldn’t quite believe her ears. She leaned forward to kiss him, soft and sweet, like it was the first time, but at the same time achingly familiar. She pulled back just far enough to rest her forehead against his, their breath mingling. 

“I love you, too,” she breathed, terrified every second by the words coming out of her mouth but unable to hold them back. “I don’t even know when I started falling for you, because it feels like it’s always been this way. I love your stupid hero complex and I love watching you draw and sometimes I wake up and watch you sleep like a stupid sap because I don’t want to waste even a minute of my time with you. I love you so much it scares the shit out of me, because I’ve never loved anyone like this and you go out and fight bad guys with nothing but a giant Frisbee to protect you, and I’m terrified that one day you won’t come back.”

Steve smiled, but his eyes were sad, and he didn’t make light of it, didn’t tell her that she was wrong, that he’d always come back, because they both knew that would be a lie. “At least now I’ve got a superpowered girlfriend,” he joked, and Darcy laughed a watery laugh, breathless with him calling her his girlfriend like she was back in the seventh fucking grade or something.

“All right, lovebirds,” Tony called, cutting through the emotional tension with casual ease. “That’s enough cuddling. We’re not going to do all the work by ourselves. Get your asses up and help clean up this mess you’ve made.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and forced herself to let go, pushing to her feet, but not fighting when Steve held onto her hand and followed her up. “I didn’t exactly go out and ask to be kidnapped, Tony.”

Tony shrugged, visible even through the suit body he wore, although he’d removed the helmet. “Comes with the territory, buttercup. You have superpowers now; better get used to it. How do you feel about a tracking nanochip? I’ve got some new models, well-tested, completely safe; we can drop the wrath of Earth and Asgard on any assholes that might grab you within minutes.”

Darcy started to open her mouth in automatic refusal, and then reconsidered. “We’ll talk back at the Tower,” she said, heading toward the door to the Hydra complex, forcing herself not to drag her feet. “Let’s get this done.”

* * *

“Hey,” Steve said, wrapping an arm hurriedly around Darcy’s waist as she swayed on her feet, her vision graying around the edges. “Take a break, sweetheart.”

She shook her head muzzily, holding the clump of terrigen fragments together stubbornly until she could drop it into one of the protective containers Tony had had delivered, keeping a little air shield over the top so none of them bounced back out. “‘m okay.”

“The hell you are,” Daisy said, pushing up onto her other side. “When was the last time you ate something?”

“There wasn’t anything in her stomach to throw up,” Steve said grimly, picking her up and carrying her out of the room. “You’re done, Darcy.”

She thought about arguing again, but it seemed like too much work, so she dropped her head to his shoulder and let herself drift, sinking into the darkness, Steve’s arms around her a promise of safety.

* * *

 

Darcy panicked for a minute when she felt the IV needle in her hand as she woke. She squeezed her eyes closed, afraid of what she’d see when she opened them.

“You know, I thought Steve was going to be the stupidly self-sacrificing one in this relationship,” a quietly amused voice said, and Darcy opened her eyes slowly. Sunlight streamed in through the windows of her room in the Tower, burnishing Steve’s hair where he slumped in the armchair in the corner, snoring softly, and sparking golden highlights in Natasha’s red curls as she sat cross-legged on the rug, looking for all the world like a cat soaking up the warmth.

Darcy swallowed as she pushed up to a sitting position, her mouth cottony and still tasting vaguely of vomit, and lifted her eyebrows at the IV bag hanging from a discreet hook on the wall. 

“Fluids and nutrients,” Natasha said, coming to her feet in one smooth motion. “You were dehydrated and low on blood; we found what they’d drawn for testing and Bruce almost Hulked out when he saw how much they took. He said it was a miracle you made it down to the ground floor without passing out, let alone used your powers. You’d dropped fifteen pounds in twenty-four hours.”

“Yay, adrenaline,” Darcy croaked, drinking gratefully as Natasha picked up a cup from the bedside table and offered it to her. She closed her eyes, savoring the cool rush of the water across the parched tissues of her mouth, too grateful to be embarrassed when Natasha’s  hands wrapped around her wobbly ones to hold the cup steady. “Too bad we can’t market it as a fad diet; we’d make millions. How long do I have to be hooked up?” she asked, reluctantly handing the cup back when her stomach lurched in protest.

“Bruce and Helen will be up in a few hours to check on that,” Natasha answered, setting the cup back on the table and perching on the side of the bed. “Probably not too long, though. Your color’s good; you just need food and a little more rest.”

Darcy opened her mouth to protest, but a jaw-cracking yawn interrupted her, and Natasha’s mouth curved into something warmer and more genuine than her normal tiny smile. 

“Get some sleep,  сестричка, ” Natasha murmured, pushing her gently but firmly back down on to the pillows.  “Plenty of world left to save tomorrow. Rest now. You’re home.”

Darcy wanted to argue, but the pillow was soft and the comforter was warm. The last thing she saw before her eyes drifted closed was Steve, safe and whole and glowing in the sunlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> сестричка = diminutive of sister (got it off the internet, sorry, my one semester of Russian is many years behind me, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with the story, and with me when I didn't know what was happening and had to bang my head against the wall until the words came out. At this point, I think we've got about one chapter left to wrap it all up; I can't believe it's almost done, and I can't believe how many of you have commented, subscribed, and followed along with what was originally just a fluffy little one-shot. Thank you so much! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if it wasn't for all of the wonderful feedback I got on this one, it would probably have been abandoned long ago.
> 
> As always, feel free to drop by [my Tumblr](dizzy-redhead.tumblr.com) for lots of reblogs of Chris Evans pics and a smattering of whatever else catches my eye. I love getting messages, so feel free to just start flailing at me about whatever has caught your fancy recently. I also enjoy getting prompts, although I have a lot of writing irons in the fire right now, so I can't guarantee what will catch my brain's interest (it's a fickle creature)


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Settling into the new normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously 95% smut, guys. Read at your own risk.

“Are you sure?” Darcy asked, searching Steve’s eyes. 

“Positive,” he said, his eyes warm and steady on hers. His tone was calm, but his pupils were already blown wide and dark, only the thinnest ring of blue visible. “Besides,” he added with a little smirk, “you remember, I told you I wanted to watch you get yourself off sometime.”

Darcy shivered a little at the reminder, and took a step back to fully appreciate the view. Steve was stark naked, sitting in the wide, comfortable armchair (really more of a small couch) that was normally in the corner but had been moved closer so it had an unobstructed view of the bed. The muscles in his arms and legs flexed  distractingly as he strained against the bands of air Darcy had wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and his cock was already hard, bobbing against his stomach and leaving shining trails of precome on his flexing abs.

“I still think you just want me to do all the work,” she teased, lifting her hands to her hair and pulling out the bobby pins securing it into a messy bun at the back of her head. She made her movements slow and leisurely, letting her hips sway to the soft bass beat of the music flowing through the speakers. 

Steve licked his lips when her hair finally fell loose around her shoulders. “You think you’re in charge, just because I’m trapped in this chair?” he asked, his voice low and rough.

Darcy arched an eyebrow, squeezing the invisible bonds down around his wrists, just a little. “Sure looks that way from here.”

Steve smiled, a cocky smile she didn’t get to see very often, and settled back in the chair. “We’ll see. Take your skirt off, Darcy. Slowly.”

Her fingers were on the zipper pull before she realized her hand had moved. For a few seconds, she contemplated doing something else, but, although she might sometimes question Steve’s orders on a mission, following them in the bedroom always worked out in her favor. So she tugged the zipper down slowly and worked the snug fabric of the red pencil skirt down her legs even slower, bending at the waist to give him a good look at her cleavage in the crisp white button-down shirt. She straightened slowly and stepped out of the skirt where it pooled on the floor, careful not to catch the stiletto heels of her black pumps. Steve groaned when he saw the lacy tops of her thigh-high stockings and the garter straps peeking out from under her shirttails.

Darcy turned in a slow circle so he could get the full effect. The noise he made when he saw the seam running up the back of her stockings made it worth the time she’d spent on Youtube figuring out how to keep the stupid thing straight. Darcy smirked at him over her shoulder as she finished her turn, lifting her hands to toy with the top button of her blouse. 

“Jesus fuck, Darcy,” he breathed. “Tryin’ to kill me, sweetheart?”

She smiled, the hint of Brooklyn seeping into his voice a sure sign of victory. “Nah,” she said breezily, slipping the button through the buttonhole and revealing a hint of the black lace trim on her bra. “I’ve got plans for you, Rogers. Need you alive for that.”

She undid the rest of the buttons slowly, pausing between each one to let her fingers skim over the newly-revealed skin. By the time the shirt front hung open, framing her breasts, barely contained by the low-cut bra, and skimming over her hips, revealing that the garter belt was the only piece of clothing she’d worn under her skirt, Steve was straining unconsciously against his bonds, muscles rippling. His eyes were huge and dark, his lip red from biting it, and there was a hot flush along his cheekbones. 

Darcy sauntered over to the bedside table and opened the drawer, arching her back a little as she bent over and pretended to consider her options. Steve swore behind her, low and fervent, and she smiled as she picked up the slim bullet vibrator and closed the drawer, slowly straightening before turning around. 

Steve’s eyes dropped to the object in her hand and he licked his lips. Darcy put a little extra sway in her walk as she stalked back along the side of the bed. 

“Now let’s see,” she murmured, running her fingers up and down the smooth plastic of the toy and watching as Steve’s hips arched up in response, his cock jerking freely with the movement. “How should I do this? Want to be sure you get a good show.”

Steve swallowed hard, his hands curled into fists. “You could lie down on the bed.”

Darcy hummed consideringly. “I could. Would you like that? Watching me all spread out on the bed, fucking myself with the vibrator until I come?”

“I--” he shuddered all over, his eyes fluttering closed as his hard, flushed cock twitched, leaking pre-come that slid down the already slick skin.

“Because that would be fun,” she continued, waiting until his eyes slid open again before walking slowly across the room and straddling his legs. “But I think it might be too far away.”

She set the vibrator down on the seat next to her leg and shrugged out of her unbuttoned blouse, letting it slide slowly down her arms and making sure it brushed over Steve’s legs on the way to the floor. He shivered underneath her, moaning wordlessly, so turned on that even the light touch of the soft fabric was enough to make him shake.

She skimmed her fingers back up her thighs, over the garter belt and up her stomach until she was cupping her breasts, letting her fingertips tease over the edge where lace met skin. She dipped them underneath when Steve’s eyes followed their path, dropping her head back and letting a moan escape. 

“Take it off,” Steve rasped, his hands flexing like he was trying to do it himself. Darcy could feel him pulling against her power, but not even his serum-enhanced strength was able to break free. “Please. Wanna see.”

She slid her hands slowly, teasingly, down to the center of the bra and flicked open the front clasp, holding it in place for a minute before letting it fall away. She cupped her breasts, lifting them like she was putting them on display, and Steve’s eyes darkened before he surged forward, using the small range of motion he had to lick over first one nipple, then the other. He pulled back almost before she could react, licking his lips like he was searching for the taste of her skin.

“Needed to touch you,” he said in response to her arched eyebrows. “Killin’ me, not bein’ able to touch you. Let me see?”

Darcy picked up the vibrator and turned it on the lowest setting, skimming the tip across his thigh to let him feel the sensation while she reached down with her other hand to stroke over her clit and down lower, flushing a little at how wet she was already. “Like this?” She leaned back, spreading her legs and sitting back on his knees to give him a good view.

“Fuck, yeah, just like that,” Steve breathed, his eyes roving over her body. 

She slid her fingers out of her pussy, shining with her wetness, and back up to her clit, rubbing and teasing until she found the spot that made her legs shake. She brought the vibrator slowly up her inner thigh, letting the sensation build as it touched ever more sensitive skin, until it was directly on her clit, making her hips roll unconsciously forward. She didn’t realize she was moaning at first, short, stuttered sounds escaping her lips, until her throat locked as she came, the force of her orgasm shuddering and shaking apart.

She was a little surprised to see Steve still sitting there, muscles tight with frustrated desire, when she opened her eyes. “They held?” she asked, wincing with embarrassment when she saw the wetness on his thighs.

“Like fuckin’ iron,” he said tightly. “Next time, hold me down on the bed, ride my face and I’ll get you off until my jaw locks up, anything, long as I can touch you. This---” he growled in frustration. “Need to touch you.”

Darcy released the air holding him in place, like relaxing a muscle she hadn’t realized was tensed, and his arms were around her instantly, pinning her against his body and dragging her in for a long, hungry kiss, his hand tangled in her hair. His cock was hard and hot beneath her, sliding between the folds of her pussy to bump against her clit, and Darcy writhed on his lap at the stimulation.

“Condom?” he gasped, and she yanked it off of the bedside table with an air curent, sending it flying through the air until it smacked into her hand. He tore the package open and rolled it on with desperate haste, and she sank down on his cock with a sigh, not stopping until he was as deep inside as he could get.

“Not gonna last,” he gritted out, his head thrown back against the chair, a muscle flexing in his jaw as he started to thrust up into her. “Fuck, Darcy--tell me how to get you off--”

“Play with my tits,” she ordered, surprised to hear that her voice was just as wrecked as his. “Fuck, yes, like that--” 

His big hands closed over her breasts, swallowing them entirely for a moment despite their not inconsiderable size before starting to toy with her nipples, sending sensation arrowing straight to her clit. She started rolling her hips, a slow, steady movement that ground her clit against his pubic bone and had her gasping for breath.

“Don’t stop,” she begged, moans punching out of her with every thrust of his cock into her pussy. “Oh, fuck, Steve, don’t stop, don’t stop don’t stop.”

She felt his movements grow ragged underneath her, but he didn’t stop, and his last hard, deep thrust as he came was what sent her over the edge, her hands locked around his wrists to hold him in place.

Darcy leaned into Steve when she finally relaxed, letting her head fall onto his shoulder as the aftershocks of her orgasm rocked through her body, Steve’s hands rubbing soothingly up and down her back. She finally worked up the energy to lift her head and press a clumsy kiss to his mouth before pulling back enough to see his face.

“So, the bondage thing doesn’t really work for you, huh?” 

One corner of his mouth tipped up. “It wasn’t all bad. That was a hell of a show you put on.” His smirk deepened as she flushed. “But not bein’ able to touch you…”

She nodded. “That part wasn’t great. Plus, calling all the shots is so much  _ work. _ But I did like your idea about next time…”

Steve arched an eyebrow at her. “You wanna hold me down and ride my face, sweetheart? You know I’ll eat that pretty pussy anytime you want me to.”

“Sometimes I want to record you and let Tony ‘find’ the files,” Darcy said, snuggling closer. “Just to see his little brain implode.”

“No video,” Steve said, wrapping his arms around her more tightly. “Don’t wanna share this show with anyone else.”

* * *

“Why do I have to have a superhero name?” Darcy asked, stealing the last slice of supreme pizza from the boxes spread out on the table just as Clint was reaching for it. “I’m probably going to forget it and then you’ll have to use my real name to get my attention anyway.”

Clint glared at her, but relented when Natasha passed him a slice off her plate. “Something something protecting secret identities something something.”

“Partly a security measure,” Daisy said, taking a sip of her beer. “Partly because every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent has at least a little bit of a twelve-year-old playing spy games inside them and they  _ love _ their code names.”

“I still like Hurricane,” Bruce put in mildly.

Darcy grimaced. “And have Tony play ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ at me all the time? No need to make it easy on him.”

“Valkyrie?” Steve asked. “I’m sure Thor wouldn’t mind.”

“I’m not exactly a sword-swinging warrior maiden,” Darcy said. “Even if I do have the tits for it--don’t say it, Clint.”

Clint shot her an injured look that wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Hmm.” Daisy had her phone out and was Googling. “Mistral? Zephyr? Sirocco?”

Darcy frowned. “I dunno. None of them feel quite right. Am I being too picky about this?”

Steve shrugged. “Don’t look at me. Captain America was a marketing schtick.”

“Well, at S.H.I.E.L.D. at least, sometimes you don’t pick,” Clint mumbles, swallowing the chewed food in his mouth when Natasha glared a warning at him. “Sometimes it’s what you’re assigned or what your teammates call you that sticks.”

Darcy flopped back onto the couch. “Great. So I might end up stuck with a Tony nickname after all.”

“At least it’ll probably be respectful,” Daisy said. “That talk with Pepper hasn’t had time to wear off yet.”

Before anyone could refute that overly optimistic assumption, Natasha’s phone dinged at her. She swiped across the screen, her eyes flickering as she read, before locking it and flowing smoothly to her feet, tugging Clint up with the effortless strength that belied her compact frame. “JARVIS just decoded another HYDRA cell location. Wheels up in 15.”

“Code Green?” Bruce asked, not moving from where he sat cross-legged on the floor.

“Not right now,” Steve said, reading off his own phone screen. “But I’d like to have you along for backup just in case.”

Bruce nodded and unfolded himself. Darcy watched them head for the door, a little uncertain if her presence was required and hating the way it made her feel like a kid picked last in gym class.

Natasha turned as she reached the door and arched an eyebrow at her. “You don’t think you get to sit this one out, do you?”

“I--uh--” Darcy flushed at her complete inability to put together a complete sentence.

“With Tony in Malibu and Thor on Asgard, we need a flier,” Natasha said briskly, turning back toward the door. “So get your ass in gear, Vortex.”

Darcy couldn’t have stopped the smile spreading across her face if she’d tried. (She didn’t try very hard.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Okay. I can't quite believe this is over (I reserve the right to revisit this 'verse at any point, and you can read my short fic "A Funny Thing Happened" as a sort of sequel thing).
> 
> Thank you thank you THANK YOU to all of you who came along on this ride; who read and commented and subscribed. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this fic would almost certainly have fallen by the wayside if it wasn't for the enthusiastic support you've given me. Thank you for your patience as I struggled to figure out where it was going. Thank you for everything!!!


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